ISBN: 9054859059 9789054859055

Category: Unavailable

Page count: 104

The large difference between the PAH bioavailability in artificially contaminated and aged industrially contaminated soils is probably mainly caused by the method of soil contamination. In artificially contaminated soils, PAHs are added to the soil dissolved in solvents. After evaporation of the solvent, PAH are likely to be present as precipitated particles. The degradation rate of this artificially added benzo[ a ]pyrene by Bjerkandera sp. strain BOS55 appeared to be influenced mainly by the particle size of these precipitates and not by the presence or absence of organic matter (non published results). Generally, the recalcitrance of PAH in soil systems is attributed partly to adsorption of PAH to adsorbents such as organic matter (Pignatello and Xing, 1996; Luthy et al., 1997). In contaminated soils at gasification sites and creosote-facilities, the PAH spills are associated with non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) such as coal tar and mineral oils. Due to the high hydrophobicity, PAHs are sequestered by the NAPLs, resulting in lower aqueous concentrations than in the absence of NAPLs (Efroymson and Alexander, 1995). Only very low mass transfer of PAH out of NAPLs has been observed (Efroymson and Alexander, 1994; Yeom et al., 1996), which can be decreased even more by weathering and hardening (Luthy et al., 1997), severely decreasing the bioavailability.