title: Fate of triclosan in field soils receiving sewage sludge.
abstract: The anti-microbial substance triclosan can partition to sewage sludge during wastewater treatment and subsequently transfer to soil when applied to land. Here, we describe the fate of triclosan in a one-year plot experiment on three different soils receiving sludge. Triclosan and methyl-triclosan concentrations were measured in soil samples collected monthly from three depths. A large fraction of triclosan loss appeared to be explained by transformation to methyl-triclosan. After 12 months less than 20% of the initial triclosan was recovered from each soil. However, the majority was recovered as methyl-triclosan. Most of the chemical recovered at the end of the experiment (both triclosan and methyl-triclosan) was still in the top 10 cm layer, although there was translocation to lower soil horizons in all three soils. Between 16.5 and 50.6% of the applied triclosan was unaccounted for after 12 months either as a consequence of degradation or the formation of non-extractable residues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Technology, School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, College Road, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, UK. emma.butler@unilever.com
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Whelan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sakrabani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van Egmond
mesh_terms: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014260:Triclosan / Q000032:analysis*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid
chemical_list: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D012722:Sewage; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014260:Triclosan