Degradation and mobility of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate and nonylphenol in sludge-amended soil

• Published in: Journal of environmental quality Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 232 - 240
• Main Authors: Jacobsen, A.M, Mortensen, G.K, Hansen, H.C.B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Madison American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society 01.01.2004; Crop Science Society of America; American Society of Agronomy
• Subjects: Agronomy; Alkanesulfonates - chemistry; Alkylbenzene; Alkylbenzene sulfonate; Applied sciences; Barley; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biological and physicochemical properties of pollutants. Interaction in the soil; Copyrights; Degradation; Detection limits; Documents; Drying; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Environmental monitoring; Environmental quality; Exact sciences and technology; Extraction; Fluorescence; half life; High performance liquid chromatography; Hordeum vulgare; Humans; kinetics; Leachates; Liquid chromatography; Loam soils; Lysimeters; Mathematical analysis; phenols; Phenols - chemistry; Pollution; Pollution, environment geology; Precipitation; Sandy loam; sandy loam soils; Sandy soils; Sewage - chemistry; Sewage irrigation; Sewage sludge; Sludge; Sludge digestion; Soil; Soil (material); Soil amendment; Soil and sediments pollution; Soil columns; Soil degradation; soil depth; soil pollution; soil transport processes; sorption; spring barley; Sulfonates; Surface-Active Agents - chemistry; Surfactants; Water content; Biodegradation; Monocotyledones; Hordeum vulgare; Pollutant behavior; Cultivated soil; Mobility; Soil pollution; Sewage sludge; Leaching; Cereal crop; Sulfonate; Persistence; Transport process; Anionic surfactant; Amendment; Adsorption; Gramineae; Angiospermae; Phenols; Spermatophyta
• ISSN: 0047-2425; 1537-2537
• DOI: 10.2134/jeq2004.2320

Degradation and mobility of the surfactants linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) and nonylphenol (NP) were investigated in a lysimeter study using a sandy loam soil and 45-cm soil columns. Anaerobically digested sewage sludge was incorporated in the top-15-cm soil layer to an initial content of 38 mg LAS and 0.56 mg NP kg(-1) dry wt., respectively. Spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was sown onto the columns. The lysimeters were placed outdoors and therefore received natural precipitation, but were also irrigated to a total amount of water equivalent to 700 mm of precipitation. Leachate and soil samples from three soil layers were collected continuously during a growth period of 110 d. Leachate samples and soil extracts were concentrated by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The concentrations in the top-15-cm soil layer declined to 25 and 45% of the initial contents for LAS and NP, respectively, within the first 10 d of the study. At the end of the study, less than 1% LAS was left, while the NP content was below the detection limit. Assuming first-order degradation kinetics, half-lives of 20 and 37 d were estimated for LAS and NP, respectively. The surfactants were not measured in leachate samples in concentrations above the analytical detection limits of 4.0 and 0.5 microgram L(-1) for LAS and NP, respectively. In addition, neither LAS nor NP were measured in concentrations above the detection limits of 150 and 50 microgram kg(-1) dry wt., respectively, in soil layers below the 15 cm of sludge incorporation, indicating negligible downward transport of the surfactants in the lysimeters.