Review on carbonaceous materials as persulfate activators: Structure performance relationship, mechanism and future perspectives in water treatment

Recently carbonaceous materials have attracted increasing attentions in advanced oxidation process (AOPs) due to their capability, adaptability and efficiency in the degradation of organic wastewater contaminants with little or no...

Detection and degradation of organic contaminants in an agricultural soil amended with alkaline-treated biosolids

Gillis, J. D., Price, G. W. and Stratton, G. W. 2014. Detection and degradation of organic contaminants in an agricultural soil amended with alkaline-treated biosolids. Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 595–604. The agricultural use of wastewater biosolids is a common practice in many countries, but concerns exist regarding the presence of organic wastewater contaminants that remain in the land-applied biosolids. The objective of this study was to determine if contaminants present in biosolids are detectable in soil following land application. A suite of organic contaminants were monitored by gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer in agricultural soil samples from a site amended with increasing rates of alkaline-treated biosolids. Triclosan, a common antimicrobial agent, was detected at levels greater than the reporting limit in an environment-controlled incubation study and validated through in situ field samples from soils receiving the same alkaline-treated biosolid. A rapid decrease in triclosan concentration was observed during the first few weeks of the incubation study, with concentrations decreasing from 92±26 to 20±2 ng g−1 (average 78% decrease) after 4 mo. The field results indicate that triclosan in fall-applied may persist overwinter. However, a rapid decrease in triclosan concentration during the spring and summer months led to levels lower than predicted following the spring application, and levels below our reporting limit (up to 85% decrease) by the end of the study. Removal is posited to be through aerobic microbial degradation.