Improving the SoilPlusVeg model to evaluate rhizoremediation and PCB fate in contaminated soils

Environmental Pollution
Elisa TerzaghiAntonio Di Guardo

Abstract

Tools to predict environmental fate processes during remediation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in soil are desperately needed since they can elucidate the overall behavior of the chemical and help to improve the remediation process. A dynamic multimedia fate model (SoilPlusVeg) was further developed and improved to account for rhizoremediation processes. The resulting model was used to predict Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) fate in a highly contaminated agricultural field (1089 ng/g d.w.) treated with tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), a promising plant species for the remediation of contaminated soils. The model simulations allowed to calculate the rhizoremediation time (about 90 years), given the available rhizoremediation half-lives and the levels and fingerprints of the PCB congeners, to reach the legal threshold, to show the relevance of the loss processes from soil (in order of importance: degradation, infiltration, volatilization, etc.) and their dependence on meteorological and environmental dynamics (temperature, rainfall, DOC concentrations). The simulations showed that the effective persistence of PCBs in soil is deeply influenced by the seasonal variability. The model also allowed to evaluate the role of D...Continue Reading

Citations

Nov 7, 2019·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Magdalena UrbaniakKurunthachalam Kannan
Jan 27, 2019·The Science of the Total Environment·Chiara Maria Vitale, Antonio Di Guardo

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