title: Impact of black carbon on the bioaccessibility of organic contaminants in soil.
abstract: The ability of carbonaceous geosorbents (CGs) such as black carbon (BC) to extensively sorb many common environmental contaminants suggests that they potentially possesses qualities useful to the sequestration of harmful xenobiotics within contaminated land. Presently, however, there is limited understanding of the implications for the bioaccessibility, mobility and environmental risk of organic contaminants while sorbed to BC in soil and sediment, in addition to the inherent toxicity of BC itself to terrestrial flora and fauna. We review both the processes involved in and factors influencing BC sorption characteristics, and ultimately consider the impacts BC will have for bioavailability/bioaccessibility, toxicity and risk assessment/remediation of contaminated land. We conclude that while the application of BC is promising, additional work on both their toxicity effects and long-term stability is required before their full potential as a remediation agent can be safely exploited.
authors.affiliation: Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK. Electronic address: k.semple@lancaster.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Kirk T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Semple
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Riding
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: McAllister
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sopena-Vazquez
authors.forename: Gary D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Bending
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Bioaccessibility; Black carbon; Contaminated land; Remediation