Tuesday, October 23, 2007 : 3:15 p.m.

the Fate of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Land-Applied Biosolids

Cary Leung, Robert G. Arnold, Ph.D., Wendell P. Ela, Ph.D., Eduardo A. Saez, Ph.D. and David Quanrud, Ph.D., University of Arizona

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and many other persistent trace organics in wastewater tend to be concentrated in sludge produced during wastewater treatment.  The fate of these compounds in the environment when sludge is desired of via land application is largely unknown.  Here we examine archived soils from an historic sludge application site where application rate are well known.  The environmental mobility and degradability of PBDEs in soils were determined by integrating depth-dependent profiles of specific BDE congeners in soil columns from the disposal site.  Integrated values over the top 12 inches were compared to cumulative application rates to assess the persistence of the pollutants under field conditions.

Cary Leung, University of Arizona Cary Leung has been studying a Master Degree in Environmental Engineering, and received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona. She is interesting in bioremediation of Polybrominated diphenyl ethers.


[ Manuscript ] Manuscript

6th International Conference on Pharmaceuticals and Enocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Water