Temporal and spatial variability of enantiomeric fractions (EFs) of chiral organochlorines in relation to soil properties

Purpose

The scope of this article was to investigate the spatial and temporal variability of enantiomeric fractions (EFs) of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in soil compared to the uncertainty of the analytical data.

Materials and methods

Soil samples were taken with high spatial resolution at two sites in Czech Republic in 2008 to investigate variability on a small spatial scale. In addition, composite soil samples were taken from ten sites in 2005 and 2008 to investigate temporal variations. All samples were analysed for a suite of soil properties as well as concentrations and EFs of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) -95, PCB-132 and PCB-149; α-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH); o,p′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT); and o,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD).

Results and discussion

Median EFs of PCB-95 and PCB-149, α-HCH, o,p′-DDT and o,p′-DDD did not change significantly on the sites sampled in 2005 and again in 2008, while PCB-132 changed from EF?=?0.38 to EF?=?0.53. The sampling methodology is therefore very important, and composite samples will not be the best option if enantioselective degradation processes are investigated. Non-racemic EFs of POPs in the subsampled sites in 2008 were correlated to soil parameters, such as total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen and humic acids. These parameters are site specific and might vary on a small scale. This can explain why certain soil parameters are reported as significantly correlated with non-racemic EFs of chiral POPs in some studies, but not always in other similar studies.

Conclusions

While composite samples may still represent the overall prevailing EF range, they are not ideally suited to study enantiomeric degradation processes, which are taking place at a relative small scale, depending on the heterogeneity of soil parameters such as TOC, total organic nitrogen (TON) and humic acids.