Contaminant Interactions in Soil and Water
Inorganic Chemicals
Inorganic contaminant interactions with colloid particulates include: adsorption-desorption at surface sites, precipitation, exchange with clay minerals, binding by organically coated particulate matter or organic colloidal material, or adsorption of contaminant ligand complexes. Depending on the nature of contaminants, these interactions are controlled by solution pH and ionic strength of soil solution, nature of the species, dominant cation, and inorganic and organic ligands present in the soil solution.121
Organic Chemicals
The fate and behavior of organic compounds depend on a variety of processes including sorption- desorption, volatilization, chemical and biological degradation, plant uptake, surface runoff, and leaching. Sorption-desorption and degradation (both biotic and abiotic) are perhaps the two most important processes as the bulk of the chemicals is either sorbed by organic and inorganic soil constituents, and chemically or microbially transformed/degraded. The degradation is not always a detoxification process. This is because in some cases the transformation or degradation process leads to intermediate products that are more mobile, more persistent, or more toxic to non-target organisms. The relative importance of these processes is determined by the chemical nature of the compound.
Implications to Soil and Environmental Quality
A considerable amount of literature is available on the effects of contaminants on soil microorganisms and their functions in soil. The negative impacts of contaminants on microbial processes are important from the ecosystem point of view and any such effects could potentially result in a major ecological perturbance. Hence, it is most relevant to examine the effects of contaminants on microbial processes in combination with communities. The most commonly used indicators of metal effects on microflora in soil are: (1) soil respiration, (2) soil nitrification, (3) soil microbial biomass, and (4) soil enzymes.
Contaminants can reach the food chain by way of water, soil, plants, and animals. In addition to the food chain transfer, pollutants may also enter via direct consumption or dust inhalation of soil by children or animals. Accumulation of these pollutants can take place in certain target tissues of the organism depending on the solubility and nature of the compound. For example, DDT and PCBs accumulate in human adipose tissue. Consequently, several of these pollutants have the potential to cause serious abnormalities including cancer and reproductive impairments in animal and human systems.
