SOIL POLLUTION

Soil ecosystem organic, inorganic constituents & microbes

Soil microbes Active agents in decomposition of both plant and animal wastes Natures garbage disposal system though they decompose a variety of compounds they do not act on many man made synthetic polymers

Persistent molecules that fail to be metabolized or mineralized have been termed as recalcitrants

SOIL POLLUTANTS
Plastics Agro chemicals Fertilizers Heavy metals

Plastics
Major part of global domestic and industrial waste Not easily biodegraded Waste plastic accumulates much thus adds to severe pollution problem Takes several years to disintegrate 400 years to degrade mineral water bottles In USA, plastics are 7% in weight and 30% of the volume Use of biodegradable plastic solves the problem of pollution How? Photodegradable or biodegradable plastic contains an element sensitive to UV rays. In the presence of solar rays, the element is activated and breaks polymeric chain into small fragments that are easily digested

What is biodegradable plastic?

During the manufacture 6% starch and Oxidizing agent (vegetable oil) added to polymers Degraded easily In case of metallic salts Present in soil interact with oxidizing agent to form ferric oxides Attacks polymer bonds Sets degradation of plastic in motion Parallely, soil microbes break starch grains which results in an increased attack surface Finally accelerates auto oxidation process

 Starch present reduces water resistance of plastic Addition of fine protective layer to the starch based plastic make it possible to obtain high degree of water resistance Future? Plastics with 50% starch in the market Biodegradable plastics offers solution to pollution due to plastics

Solid waste composition

Solid waste management hierarchy

Agrochemical pollution
Include pesticides, herbicides, fungicides Pesticides applied reach the soil ultimately Accumulation of pesticide residues in biosphere creates ecological stress causing soil, water and food contamination Persisting chemicals are hazardous to human health Total remediation is impossible Reduction of residue levels through redeeming technology (desirable)

 Pesticides serve as nutrients (C,N,S) or substrate for energy - many microorganisms Certain pesticides are metabolized but does not serve as nutrient, transformation is by cometabolism Many pesticides and their metabolites are toxic to microorganisms Mercuric fungicides are toxic to Rhizobium, Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter

Fertilizer pollution
Continuous application Deterioration in soil properties, cultivated soils lose their characteristics Application of Amm. sulphate, Amm. chloride & Urea reduce soil pH Crops potato, grapes, citrus, beans sensitive to chloride toxicity Application of organic manures and biofertilizers reduce the soil from pollution

Xenobiotics
Foreign and harmful substance or organism in a biological system

Derived from Greek Xeno meaning stranger and Bio means life Life describes some toxic substances, parasites and Symbionts
Drugs, Food and poisons when consumed in levels more than the normal dose is linked to toxicity Xenobiosis In communities of species when two distinct species share living space At ecosystem level toxic waste when bioaccumulation in the food chain / food web we call it Xenobiotic

Heavy metal pollution

Metals with atomic number greater than 23 or more than 5 gm per ml (eg. Hg 70gm ml-1) They are hazardous, not acceptable to biological system Toxic to man & other life forms Most are slow poison, accumulate in the body and cause serious disorders Common toxic metals- Hg, Pb, As, Cr, Cd

Heavy metal (forms)

Source

Effect

Mercury Hg++

Methyl mercury Irreversible neurological fungicides, electrical and damage in man, electronic industries, Minamata disease PVC, plastics, paints
Automobile exhaust of Mutation in algae and leaded petrol, batteries, bacteria, blackening in pipes, soldering fish, gradual paralysis in man Herbicide, fungicide, wood preservative Agrochemicals (70%), paints, bullets (20%), glass wares (5%) Accumulate in hair, nail, skin lesions, act as oxidative uncoupler, damage to kidney, respiratory and nervous disorders

Lead - Pb2+ , Pb4+

Arsenic As++, Arsenic trioxide, Sodium arsenate

Contd. Chromium Cr+6 & CrO3

Tanneries, electroplating and metal finishing processes, Khaki dyeing textiles Toxic to aquatic organisms, absorbed through intestinal tract in man

Cadmium - Cd

Pigment and stabilizer for PVC, plastics, tyres, rechargeable cells, electroplating, coal oil, phosphate rocks

Bones become brittle Itai Itai disease in Japan, gastro enteric distress and pain

 Biodegradation is not possible unlike organic pollutants Metals are not mineralized to non toxic compounds (H2O & CO2) Biomobilization is possible
How? Eukaryotic organisms detoxify heavy metals by binding to polythiols and bacteria develop efficient mechanisms to tolerate them They carry the genes controlling metal resistance in chromosome and plasmids Many plasmids contain genes resistance to several metals

Biological Transformation of metals

Is a detoxification mechanism by the action of microorganisms As a result metals undergo changes in valency and or conversion into organo metallic compounds Transformations Changes in valency and resulting in production of volatile or less toxic compounds Ex. Oxidation of As (III) to As (V) and Hg ion to metallic mercury Formation of organo metallic compounds by methylation Ex. Pb & Hg

Soil conservation
Biological methods
Agronomic practices Contour farming Mulching crop rotation Strip cropping Dry farming Agrostological methods Lay farming Retiring of land to grass

Soil conservation (contd.)

Mechanical methods
Basin listing Contour terracing

Other methods
Gully control Afforestation

Terracing increases the amount of land used for cultivation on steep slope and mountains and reduces erosion

Contoured rows planted with alternating crops reduces soil erosion on gently sloppy land

Impact of DDT
DDT Organic chemical Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane Is a Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Takes long time to break down in the environment Half Life 15 years Toxic to insects but not very toxic to human Used much during the World War II to protect US troops from mosquito borne malaria and to prevent the spread of lice and lice borne disease among civilian population in Europe Thereafter used as pesticides to protect crops and people from insect borne disease Since it was the first of its kind, it was overused and by the year 1960s, the problem related to bio magnification of DDT became apparent

Bioremediation Treatment Technologies

Biostimulation Bioaugmentation Biosorption Bioaccumulation Landfarming Composting Bioventing / air sparging Phytoremediation

Air Sparging

Soil Washing
Mixture Injection Tank water Well & surfactants
Water Table

Mixture Separator/ Water Treatment

Recovery Well

Contaminated Zone

Bioreactor
Vapor out Agitator Contaminated soil

Temperature control

Contaminated liquid
Nutrient Liquid outlet

Soil to drying Air inlet

Landfarming
Contaminated soil Air Filter/Pump

Tank

Gravel layer

Biopiles

Gravel layer

Nutrient/moisture

Contaminated soil
Impermeable layer Leachate collection