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PLANT UPTAKE OF SLUDGE-BORNE PCBS
Citation:
O'Connor, G., D. Kiehl, A. Eiceman, AND J. Ryan. PLANT UPTAKE OF SLUDGE-BORNE PCBS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-90/447 (NTIS PB91177287).
Description:
Plant uptake of sludge-borne polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (similar to Aroclor 1248) was evaluated in a greenhouse study with two food-chain crops and a grass species. olychlorinated biphenyl loading to two soils was varied in one experiment by adding different rates of a municipal sewage sludge heavily contaminated (52 mg kg-1) with PCBs. n a second experiment, Aroclor 1248 was spiked into unamended soils or soils amended with another sludge containing <1mg kg-1 PCBs. nalysis of PCBs was by GC/MS with a reliable detection limit in plants of 20 ug kg-1 for individual chlorinated classes (tri, tetra-, and pentachlorobiphenyls) and total PCBs. nly carrots (Daucus carota) were contaminated with PCBs, and contamination as restricted to carrot peels. urrent USEPA guidelines for land application of sludges based on sludge PCB content are shown to be extremely conservative.
