Title of Thesis: ENVIRONMENTAL FATE OF POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS IN AGRICULTURAL SOILS WHICH HAVE RECEIVED BIOSOLIDS APPLICATION Natasha Almeida Andrade, Master of Science, 2008 Directed By: Professor Alba Torrents Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Dr. Laura McConnell U.S. Department of Agriculture Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as additives in consumer...

The degradation of various formulations of the racemic mixture and the enantiomers (including mefenoxam) of metalaxyl in typical soils from Germany and Cameroon in controlled incubation experiments was studied. The kinetics of the degradation or transformation was determined by means of reversed phase HPLC, while the enantiomeric ratios were measured by HPLC with a chiral Whelk O1 column. The d...

Soil degradation is a serious global problem, but little is known about how soil microbial communities respond to soil degradation as well as their feedback to ecosystem functioning. In this study, we found the microbial community composition, structure and functional potential significantly altered in the degraded soils with bacterial wilt (termed as degraded soils). Compared with healthy soil...

19 Phosphorus (P) losses from agricultural soils constitute a main driver for eutrophication of the 20 Baltic Sea. There is limited knowledge about sorption and release processes of P in these soils, 21 especially concerning the effects of fertilization. In this study, P speciation of the clay fractions 22 from six different soils in long-term fertility experiments in Sweden was investigated by...

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent of cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soil and its potential risk for people. Soils, rice, and vegetables from Chenzhou City, Southern China were sampled and analyzed. In the surface soils, the 95% confidence interval for the mean concentration of Cd varied between 2.72 and 4.83 mg/kg (P < 0.05) in the survey, with a geometric mean conc...

Agricultural intensification is associated with the use of great amounts of agrochemicals that may result in the accumulation of metals in soils, and –subsequently—agricultural products and food chain. Nowadays, this is a major concern for many Iranian agricultural products, necessitating scientific researches on the issue. Therefore, the present study has been conducted to evaluate the level o...

The aim of the studies was to compare the composition of soil bacterial metabiomes originating from urbanized areas and areas con¬taminated with hydrocarbons with those from agricultural soil and forest soil obtained from a protected wild-life park area. It should be noted that hydrocarbons are everywhere therefore bacteria capable of their utilization are present in every soil type. In the hyd...

Agriculture is facing a major challenge nowadays: to increase crop production for food and energy while preserving ecosystem functioning and soil quality. Argentine Pampas is one of the main world producers of crops and one of the main adopters of conservation agriculture. Changes in soil chemical and physical properties of Pampas soils due to different tillage systems have been deeply studied....

Atrazine is a widely used herbicide in agriculture. Non-point source contamination of groundwater and drinking water may pose a significant threat to humans, wildlife, and the environment. Phytoremediation may provide a cost-effective strategy for reducing non-point source contamination of atrazine from agricultural runoff. Previous studies have shown that the rhizosphere of the native prairie ...