Presence of Emerging Substances of Concern and Priority Pollutants in Soils Receiving Alkaline Treated Biosolids.

Two studies were conducted to evaluate the presence Emerging Substances of Concern (ESOC) and other priority pollutants in agricultural soils receiving a Class A alkaline treated biosolid (ATB) over multiple years.  Soil and water samples were collected from two sites over a two to four year period to evaluate for selected EPA priority pollutants (p-cresol , indole, 4-tert-octylphenol, phenanthrene, triclosan, carbamazepine, and benzo[a]pyrene) in soil and specific pharmaceutical products in drainage water (including Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Caffeine, Carbamazepine, Triclosan, Ketoprofen, Clofibrate, Naproxen, and Gemfribrozil ).  Soil samples were extracted using ultrasonication followed by  SPE while water samples were concentrated through a SPE method and extracted with subsequent analysis by GC-MS. Spiking and recovery trials showed that good recovery could be obtained for phenanthrene, triclosan, and benzo[a]pyrene, while the recovery of 4-tert-octylphenol was low compared to the results of the published method.  Spiked recoveries of p-cresol, indole, and carbamazepine were much lower than the literature values and considered unreliable. Rapid triclosan removal was observed during the first few weeks of the incubation study. The field results indicate that triclosan in Fall-applied biosolids may persist overwinter and could possibly present an increased risk to organisms active in the Spring decomposition process.  Pharmaceutical compounds identified in water samples from both research sites included aspirin, caffeine, naproxen, and carbamazepine at concentration ranges of 3 to 4 ppb, 1.16 to 1.4 ppb, 0.35 to 0.5 ppb, and 0.83 ppb, respectively.