Source: OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
SOIL-BASED USE OF RESIDUALS, WASTEWATER AND RECLAIMED WATER
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0202076
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
W-2170
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2009
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2014
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
1680 MADISON AVENUE
WOOSTER,OH 44691
Performing Department
School of Natural Resources
Non Technical Summary
Millions of tons of residual by-products are annually discarded as municipal (biosolids, municipal solid waste), agricultural (manure) and industrial (various sludges) waste in the U.S. Many of these residuals are disposed of in landfills or incinerated at substantial cost to our industries and the public. Reuse of residuals as soil amendments or soil substitutes could substitute beneficial agronomic and environmental uses for disposal costs. Treated liquid wastes, such as wastewater effluent, recycled water and other non-potable water sources, also present opportunities for beneficial reuse in lieu of surface water discharge or expensive treatment. Key obstacles to beneficial reuse of residuals other than the strictly regulated biosolids and treated liquid wastes have been the lack of national and state regulatory frameworks to enable use of such by-products. The most pressing need is a risk-based protocol that allows decisions to be made on the potential risk posed by contaminants in residuals and their suitability for land application or use as soil blend components. Aside from biosolids, there is not a national framework to evaluate arsenic, lead, cadmium and other trace elements in residuals for soil applications. Recycling of residual by-products requires practical scientific knowledge to determine if and how the residual constituents can be beneficially reused without impairing the environment (soil, water, and air quality), plants grown on the amended soils, or humans and animals that consume such food, feed, and water impacted by land application. There is increasing evidence that land application of a variety of residuals may provide agronomic and environmental benefits that were either not previously well understood and/or that are critical to addressing emerging environmental issues associated with climate change. The W1170 committee members propose to continue the investigation of biogeochemical cycling of plant nutrients, the movement of trace elements into the food chain, the potential toxicity of pollutants in residuals to the soil and water ecosystems, and the long-term bioavailability of trace elements in residuals and residual-amended soils to accrue further knowledge that will promote residual recycling practices that are protective of human health and the environment. The results of such research will provide information for continuing risk assessment of the USEPA Part 503 Rule for land-applied biosolids and regulations developed at the state level for landbased recycling of residuals and effluents. Additional research will address the field and global scale effects on soil quality, plant drought response, soil carbon sequestration, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with soil-based reuse of residuals and reclaimed water. W1170 members are conducting, on both short- and long-term application sites, research whose results will enable the development of recommendations for maximizing the beneficial use on land of a variety of residual by-products.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1020110200010%
1040110115010%
1040110200010%
4030110101010%
4030110115010%
4030110200020%
4030210115010%
4032499101010%
4032499115010%
Knowledge Area
403 - Waste Disposal, Recycling, and Reuse; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships; 104 - Protect Soil from Harmful Effects of Natural Elements;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil; 0210 - Water resources; 2499 - Plant research, general;

Field Of Science
1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 2000 - Chemistry; 1150 - Toxicology;
Goals / Objectives
Evaluate the short- and long-term chemistry and bioavailability of inorganic trace elements, organic micro-constituents and nutrients in residuals, reuse water and amended soils in order to assess the environmental and health risk-based effects of their application to uncontaminated soil. Specific tasks: (a) To develop and evaluate in vitro (including chemical speciation) and novel in vivo methods for the correlation of human and ecological health responses with risk-based bioavailability of trace elements and organic micro-constituents in residuals and residual-treated soils (b)Predict the long-term bioavailability and toxicity of trace elements and organic micro-constituents in residual-amended agricultural and contaminated soils (c) Evaluate long-term effects of reclaimed wastewater irrigation on soil P enrichment and stratification and fate and transport of organic micro-constituents in high application rate systems. Evaluate the agronomic and environmental benefits/advantages of land applying residual by-products and/or substituting such materials for fertilizers. Specific tasks: (a) Evaluate the ability of in situ treatment of contaminated soil with residuals to reduce chemical contaminant bioavailability and reduce toxicity (b) Determine the climate change effects (i.e., C sequestration, N2O emissions) and water quality and quantity benefits (increased plant available water, increased drought tolerance) of substituting biosolids for commercial fertilizers for fertilizing agricultural soils and reclaiming disturbed lands.
Project Methods
Objective 1: Evaluate the short- and long-term chemistry and bioavailability of inorganic trace elements, organic microconstituents and nutrients in residuals and residuals-amended soils in order to assess the environmental and health risk based effects of residuals application to uncontaminated soil. Laboratory and field studies will be conducted to evaluate the changes in soils and soil ecosystems as a consequence of residuals addition. A variety of soil extraction methods, including single and sequential extractions, will be used to measure trace element solubility in non-biosolids residuals. Bioassays will be conducted using plants, soil invertebrates, and other ecological receptors/endpoints. Laboratory and field studies will be conducted to determine chemical speciation methods that measure risk-based bioavailability of trace elements in residuals and residual-treated soils. The long-term bioavailability of trace elements in residual amended soils will be evaluated through measures at long term field sites with studies using historic residuals, or with studies done under controlled conditions to simulate aging processes. Advanced spectroscopy techniques will be used to provide information on the species of the trace element of concern that is pertinent for its long-term bioavailability and stability. The long-term bioavailability of nutrients, trace elements and organic micro-constituents in residual amended soils will be evaluated through measures at long-term field sites, with studies using historic residuals, or with studies done under controlled conditions to simulate aging processes. Objective 2: Evaluate the agronomic and environmental benefits/advantages of land applying residual by-products and/or substituting such materials for fertilizers. Studies will be conducted in both lab and field settings to evaluate the ability of amendments to reduce the bioavailability of contaminants in situ. Lead and As availability will be evaluated using the in vitro assay that has been the focus of previous research and development in contaminated treated and control soils. Longevity of observed reduction in contaminant availability as a result of amendments will be evaluated using a range of tools including advanced synchrotron X-ray spectroscopic techniques and toxicological assays. Work will focus on both organic and inorganic contaminants. Work will be done on both soils contaminated by traditional contaminants of concern such as heavy metals and organic micro-constituents as well as on soils that pose an environmental threat due to excess fertilization. For soils with excess P, the ability of a range of residuals to reduce the availability of P and the duration of this observed reduction has, and will continue to be a focus of research for many in our workgroup. Studies will be conducted in both lab and field settings to evaluate the in situ use of residuals as P-sorbents to reduce the bioavailability and loss of P from agricultural and urban lands. Research designed to assess the effects of residuals on climate change will determine increased soil C sequestration from land application of residuals.

Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Scientific community focused on soil-based benefical use of agricultural, municipal, and industrial waste / byproducts. Federal agencies (USEPA, USDA, USFWS), State of Ohio Agencies (OEPA, ODNR), Professional Groups (Ohio Water Environment Federation), Municipal agencies (Metropolitan Water Reclamation of Greater Chicago, City of Columbus, City of Cleveland) Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Three Ph.D. graduate students and four undergraduate students were trained during the reporting period How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Publication and presentations at 3 high impact meetings What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Specific Task Goal: To develop and evaluate in vitro (including chemical speciation) and novel in vivo methods for the correlation of human and ecological health responses with risk-based bioavailability of trace elements and organic micro-constituents in residuals and residual-treated soils. We reported the first developed in vitro method to evaluate in vitro chromium in soil. A new in vitro method, the Modified Ohio State University In Vitro Gastrointestinal Method, was developed to evaluate bioavailability and risk from arsenic in soil.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Jardine,P.M., M.A. Stewart, M.O. Barnett, N.T. Basta, S.C. Brooks, S. Fendorf, T.L. Mehlhorn. 2013. Influence of Soil Geochemical and Physical Properties on Chromium (VI): Sequestration and Bioaccessibility. Environ. Sci. Technol. 47:11241-11248.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Juhasz,A.L., N.T. Basta, and E. Smith. 2013. What is required for the validation of in vitro assays for predicting contaminant relative bioavailability? Considerations and criteria. Environmental Pollution 180:372-375.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Basta, N.T. 2014. Restoring Ecosystem Services in Degraded Urban Soils Using Biosolids and Soil Amendment Blends. Soil in the City Conference, Chicago, IL., June 30-July 2, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Basta, N.T. State-of-the-Science for In Vitro Metal Bioavailability Studies. 2014. Triservices Environmental Risk Assessment Working Group Winter Meeting. Ft. Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX. Feb. 25, 2014.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Basta, N.T. and A. Juhasz. 2014. Chapter 9: Using In Vivo Bioavailability and/or In Vitro Gastrointestinal Bioaccessibility Testing to Adjust Human Exposure from Soil Ingestion. In : R.J.Bowell, J. Majzlan and C.Alpers (eds.) Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Microbiology of Arsenic in Environment, Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Mineralogical Society of America.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Basta N, Whitacre S, Myers P, Mitchell V, Alpers C, Foster A, Casteel S & Kim C. 2014. Using in Vitro Gastrointestinal and Sequential Extraction Methods To Characterize Site-Specific Arsenic Bioavailability. Goldschmidt 2014 Conference, Geochemical Society and European Assoc. of Geochemistry, Sacramento, CA, June 8-13, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Stevens B, Basta N, Whitacre S, Naber S, Scheckel K, Casteel S, Bradham K & Thomas D. 2014. Evaluation of Bioaccessibility Methods to Predict Relative Bioavailability of Arsenic in Contaminated Soils. Goldschmidt 2014 Conference, Geochemical Society and European Assoc. of Geochemistry, Sacramento, CA, June 8-13, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Basta, N.T., S.W. Whitacre, N. Johnson, V. Kecojevic, B. Lusk, W.L. Daniels. 2014. Evaluating Soil and Dust Contaminant Exposure Pathways and Impact on Human Health and Community Well-Being. ARIES Annual Meeting, Lexington, KY. April 29-30, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Basta, N.T., S.D. Whitacre, and N.E. Johnson. 2014. Evaluation of Soil and Dust as a Potential Exposure Medium for Arsenic and Other Contaminants in Appalachian Coal Mining Communities. The Geological Society of America Southeastern Section, 63rd Annual Meeting, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 10-11, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Whitacre, S.D., N.T. Basta, and W. L. Daniels. 2014. Risk Pathway Approach to Evaluating Health Effects from Coal Mining in Appalachia: Evaluation of Potential Exposure Pathways. The Geological Society of America Southeastern Section, 63rd Annual Meeting, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 10-11, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Foster A, Alpers C, Burlak T, Blum A, Petersen E, Basta N, Whitacre S, Casteel S, Kim C and Brown A. 2014. Arsenic Chemistry, Mineralogy, Speciation, and Bioavailability/Bioaccessibilty in Soils and Mine Waste from the Empire Mine, CA, USA. Goldschmidt 2014 Conference, Geochemical Society and European Assoc. of Geochemistry, Sacramento, CA, June 8-13, 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Whitacre S, Basta N, Casteel S, Foster A, Myers P & Mitchell V. 2014. Bioavailability Measures for Arsenic in California Gold Mine Tailings. Goldschmidt 2014 Conference, Geochemical Society and European Assoc. of Geochemistry, Sacramento, CA, June 8-13, 2014.


Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Urban Agriculture community including OSU Extension Cuyahoga county, Cuyahoga and Franklin county land banks, mid-Ohio Food bank, scientific communtiy including USDA CSREES researchers, state regulators (OEPA) and federal regulators (USEPA Region V). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Four M.S. and Ph.D. graduate students were trained during the reporting period How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Presentation of research results at scientific meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Complete research on development and evaluation of in vitro methods, including soil testing methods, to predict Pb risk and evaluate remediation treatments

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In cities nationwide urban agriculture has been put on hold because of the high costs of soil testing for historical contaminants such as Pb. The Mehlich 3 soil test is commonly used to determine plant available nutrients by commercial agricultural testing laboratories, is inexpensive, and has the potential to estimate trace metals in urban soil. We investigated the ability of the Mehlich 3 soil test to estimate total Pb and bioaccessible Pb in 68 vacant residential lots in Cleveland, OH. Our results clearly show the Mehlich 3 soil test can be used to provide a reliable estimate of soil Pb for screening vacant residential lots for gardening, food production, and other uses associated with soil ingestion to humans. Because Mehlich 3 is currently the most widely used soil testing extractant in the Eastern U.S. and is relatively inexpensive (< $10), it can easily be adopted by soil testing laboratories to screen samples for Pb. Our results show that total Pb can be estimated by the following equation: Total Pb (mg kg-1) = [1.73*(Mehlich 3 Pb mg kg-1) + 17] ± 69 for urban residential soils ranging from 0 to 600 mg/kg. Soil testing labs using Mehlich 3 can easily and cheaply adapt the Mehlich 3 method to provide estimates for both total Pb and bioaccessible Pb in residential soils, providing urban agriculture stakeholders, city and regional planners with access to essential information and remove regulatory barriers to urban land redevelopment.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Basta, N.T. 2013. Using Bioavailability and Bioaccessibility for Risk Assessment and Remediation of Upland Soils. Electric Power Research Institute Coal Combustion Products Environmental Issues 2013 Summer Meeting Broomfield, Colorado, July 16-17, 2013. (invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Whitacre, S.D., N.T. Basta, V.L. Mitchell, and P. Myers. 2013. Bioavailability Measures for Arsenic in Gold Mine Tailings Using Agricultural Soil Tests to Estimate Total and Bioaccessible Pb in Urban Soils. Joint MERA/ICOBTE Sponsored Symposium: Trace Element Bioavailability for Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Concepts and Recent Advances. Organizers: N. Basta, E. Van Genderen, and C. Schlekat. 12th International Conference for Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ICOBTE), Athens, GA, USA. June 16-20, 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Basta, N.T., K.G.Scheckel, K.D. Bradham, D. J. Thomas, S.W. Whitacre, and B.W. Miller. 2013 Arsenic Speciation, In Vitro Gastrointestinal Bioaccessibility, and Predicted Human Bioavailability from Ingestion of Contaminated Soil. Joint MERA/ICOBTE Sponsored Symposium: Trace Element Bioavailability for Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Concepts and Recent Advances. Organizers: N. Basta, E. Van Genderen, and C. Schlekat. 12th International Conference for Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ICOBTE), Athens, GA, USA. June 16-20, 2013. (invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Dayton, E.A. and N.T. Basta. 2013. Prediction of Trace Element Contaminant Phytoaccumulation Using Soil Property or Soil Extraction Data. Joint MERA/ICOBTE Sponsored Symposium: Trace Element Bioavailability for Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Concepts and Recent Advances. Organizers: N. Basta, E. Van Genderen, and C. Schlekat. 12th International Conference for Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ICOBTE), Athens, GA, USA. June 16-20, 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Siebielec, G., N.T. Basta, K. Minca and S.D. Whitacre. 2013. Bioaccessibility of Lead, Cadmium and Arsenic in Sorbent Amended Soils. Joint MERA/ICOBTE Sponsored Symposium: Trace Element Bioavailability for Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Concepts and Recent Advances. Organizers: N. Basta, E. Van Genderen, and C. Schlekat. 12th International Conference for Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ICOBTE), Athens, GA, USA. June 16-20, 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Beyer. W. N., N. Basta, and R. Chaney. 2013. Evaluation of In Vitro Bioaccessibility Tests in Predicting the Bioavailability of Soil Lead to Birds. Joint MERA/ICOBTE Sponsored Symposium: Trace Element Bioavailability for Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Concepts and Recent Advances. Organizers: N. Basta, E. Van Genderen, and C. Schlekat. 12th International Conference for Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ICOBTE), Athens, GA, USA. June 16-20, 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Juhasz, A.L., N. Basta and E. Smith. 2013. What is Required for the Validation of In Vitro Assays for Predicting Contaminant Relative Bioavailability? Considerations and Criteria. Joint MERA/ICOBTE Sponsored Symposium: Trace Element Bioavailability for Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Concepts and Recent Advances. Organizers: N. Basta, E. Van Genderen, and C. Schlekat. 12th International Conference for Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ICOBTE), Athens, GA, USA. June 16-20, 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Basta, N.T., S.W. Whitacre, K.K. Minca, N. Johnson, C. Everett, and L. Daniels. 2013. Evaluating toxic agents and potential exposure routes to Appalachian coal mining communities. Environmental considerations in energy production conference, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration and ARIES, Chaleston, WV. April 13-17, 2013. (invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Basta, N. 2013. Trace Element Sorption Reversibility and Bioavailability During Earthworm and Plant Bioassays. Sorption Reversibility of Organic and Inorganic Pollutants in Natural Solids: The Elephant in the Room? Session. 245th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, New Orleans, LA. April 7-11, 2013. (invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Basta, N. 2013. Using In Vitro Gastrointestinal Bioaccessibility Methods to Measure Arsenic Bioavailability and Risk from Ingestion of Food and Soil. Arsenic Contamination of Food and Water Symposium, 245th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, New Orleans, LA. April 7-11, 2013. (invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Basta,N.T. 2013. Using Biosolids to Restore and Revitalize Soil Ecosystem Services to Degraded Soils in the Calumet Region. Ecological Restoration Seminar and Workshop. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Cicero, IL. Jan. 18, 2013.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Minca, K.K., N.T. Basta, and K.G. Scheckel. 2013. Using the Mehlich-3 soil test as an inexpensive screening tool to estimate total and bioaccessible Pb in urban soils. J. Environ. Qual. 42(5):1518-1526.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Basta, N.T., and J. Wragg. 2013. Advances in Bioaccessibility Methodology. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A. 48(6):593.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Koch, I., Reimer, K.J., Bakker, M.I., Basta, N.T., Cave, M.R., Denys, S., Dodd, M., Hale, B.A., Irwin, R., Lowney, Y.W., Moore, M.M., Paquin, V., Rasmussen, P.E., Repaso-Subang, T., Stephenson, G.L., Siciliano, S.D., Wragg, J., Zagury, G.J. 2013. Variability of bioaccessibility results using seventeen different methods on a standard reference material, NIST 2710. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A. 48(6):641-655.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Whitacre, S.D., N.T. Basta, and E.A. Dayton. 2013. Soil Controls on Bioaccessible Arsenic Fractions. J. Environ. Health Sci. Part A. 48(6): 620-628.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Minca, K.K., and N.T. Basta. 2013. Comparison of Plant Nutrient and Environmental Soil Tests to Predict Pb in Urban Soils. Sci. Total Environ. 445-446:57-63.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2013 Citation: Jardine,P.M., M.A. Stewart, M.O. Barnett, N.T. Basta, S.C. Brooks, S. Fendorf, T.L. Mehlhorn. 2013. Influence of Soil Geochemical and Physical Properties on Chromium (VI): Sequestration and Bioaccessibility. Environ. Sci. Technol.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2013 Citation: Juhasz,A.L., N.T. Basta, and E. Smith. 2013. What is required for the validation of in vitro assays for predicting contaminant relative bioavailability? Considerations and criteria. Environmental Pollution
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Whitacre, S.D., N.T. Basta, C.J. Everett, K. Minca, and W.L. Daniels. 2013. Identification of toxic agents and potential exposure routes to Appalachian coal mining communities. In: J.R. Craynon (ed.) Environmental considerations in energy production. Soc. Mining Met. & Explor., Englewood, CO.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Basta, N.T. 2013. Are phosphorus in situ Pb stabilization treatments equal? Biogeochemical Interactions Affecting Bioavailability and Remediation of Hazardous Substances in the Environment Session: Lead Phosphate Amendments, 246th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana, September 8-12, 2013. (invited)


Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Six presentations to international and national scientific audiences and 2 presentations to other audiences. Assessing Oral Human Bioavailability of Arsenic in Soil with In vitro Gastrointestinal Methods. 2012. This invited presentation was delivered to 3 science venues in Nanjing, China. School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Xianlin Campus, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing. Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China. Assessing Oral Human Bioavailability of Arsenic in Soil with in Vitro Gastrointestinal Methods. Presentation 409-8, ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH. Oct. 21 to 24, 2012. Assessing Oral Human Bioavailability of Arsenic in Soil with in Vitro Gastrointestinal Methods. Presentation 409-8, ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH. Oct. 21 to 24, 2012. Bioavailability Measures for Arsenic in Gold Mine Tailings. Presentation 412-1, ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH. Oct. 21 to 24, 2012. Assessment, Remediation, and Revitalization of Upland / Urban Soils and Contaminant Bioavailability. Dept. of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK. March 12, 2012. Assessing and reducing risk from exposure to soil arsenic. 2012. Micobiology 3300, Biology of Pollution, Ohio State University. Nov. 28, 2012. The following international conference symposium was organized. "Studies On Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability of Soil Metals Impacting Human Health" ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH. Oct. 21 to 24, 2012. Organizers: N.T. Basta and K.Scheckel (USEPA, NRMRL, Cincinnati, OH). Two significant new collaborations with internationally recognized researches in China were established in 2012. Dr. Lena Ma, Nanjing University and Professor Mengfang Chen, Director, Centre for Sustainable Site Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences PARTICIPANTS: This is a regional/national project so there is many collaborators. The main collaborator for us last year was the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. TARGET AUDIENCES: Federal, State, and City Agencies involved with restoration of urban vacant lands PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Healthy soils of high quality are the base of ecosystem support. Soil quality is essential for proper functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The objective of our study was to evaluate the use of biosolids for ecological restoration. Specific emphasis was placed on comparison of the performance of biosolids (BS) with vegetative compost (VC) in restoring ecological function to degraded soil while minimizing environmental impact. This was accomplished by a three year field study. Field scale runoff plots of 3 x 9 m, with 4 replications of 5 treatments were installed in Calumet, IL. Treatments were 2 different rates of BS, VC, a custom mix of biosolids, iron oxide rich water treatment residual (WTR) and biochar, and existing soil as a control. Plots were seeded with 33 native grass, legume, and forb species. Performance was evaluated for (1) restoration of native vegetative community, (2) soil quality, (3) soil microbial function and ecology, and (4) earthworm population and reproduction. Rainfall runoff from experimental plots was collected for 2 years and analyzed to evaluate the impact of nutrients and contaminants on water quality. Biosolids improved soil quality parameters more than other treatments. Vegetative performance and community measures responded favorably to both VC and BS but response to BS more pronounced. Biosolids produced the highest vegetative quality with respect to plant tissue N (i.e. protein). None of the treatments resulted in elevated trace metals in plants. Biosolids and VC had a positive effect on soil enzymatic activity and microbial function. Both BS and VC improved earthworm reproductive health. Biosolids increased juveniles more than VC. In general, rainfall runoff quality was most affected immediately after plot establishment. Runoff N was reduced to background levels after 1 year. Runoff P was more sustained in BS treatments over time. Biosolids treatment with WTR decreased runoff P. Of the 119 microconstituents (i.e. PPCPs) analyzed, 20 were measured at detection level concentrations. None were above the no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL) for daphnia and all were below probable no-effect levels (PNEC). Biosolids is a highly desirable material to restore and revitalize soil ecosystem services to degraded soil in the Calumet area. Recommendations include (1) use of biosolids for restoration not to exceed a 2.5 cm application rate blended with WTR, (2) management practices that control sediment loss from site until vegetation is established.

Publications

  • Richards, J.R., J.L. Schroder, H. Zhang, N.T. Basta, Y. Wang, and M.E. Payton (2012). Trace elements in benchmark soils of Oklahoma. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. in press. doi: 10.2136/sssaj2012.0100.
  • Sullivan, T.S., Gottel, N.T., Basta, N., Jardine, P.J3, and C.W. Schadt (2012). Firing range soils yield a diverse array of fungal isolates capable of Pb-mineral solubilization. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 78(17): 6078-6086.
  • Sloan, J.J., P.A.Y. Ampim, N.T. Basta, and R. Scott ( 2012). Addressing the need for soil blends and amendments for the highly modified urban landscape. SSSAJ. 76:1133-1141.
  • Richard P. Dick, Qin Wu, Nicholas T. Basta. 2012. Biomethylation of Arsenic in Contaminated Soils. In M.H. Wong (ed.) Environmental Contamination Health Risks and Ecological Restoration. CRC Press. Taylor & Francis Group, Oxon UK.
  • Dawn Busalacchi, Nicholas Basta, Lakhwinder Hundal, Jennifer Tvergyak, Roman Lanno and Richard P. Dick. 2012. Evaluation of Biosolids for Ecological Restoration of Degraded Soil: A Field Study. Presentation 318-2, ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH. Oct. 21 to 24, 2012.
  • Nicholas Basta, Shane D. Whitacre, Kirk Scheckel, Bradley Miller and Stan Casteel. 2012. Assessing Oral Human Bioavailability of Arsenic in Soil with in Vitro Gastrointestinal Methods. Presentation 409-8, ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH. Oct. 21 to 24, 2012.
  • Shane D. Whitacre, Nicholas Basta, Valerie Mitchell and Perry Myers, 2012. Bioavailability Measures for Arsenic in Gold Mine Tailings. Presentation 412-1, ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH. Oct. 21 to 24, 2012.
  • Jamie Richey, Nicholas Basta and Shane D. Whitacre. 2012. The Influence of the Physicochemical Parameters of An in Vitro Gastrointestinal Method On the Bioaccessibility of Arsenic and Other Trace Elements in Contaminated Soils. Presentation 412-2, ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH. Oct. 21 to 24, 2012.
  • Alpers,C.N., V.L. Mitchell, N.T. Basta, S.W. Casteel, A.L. Foster, A.E. Blum, C.S. Kim, P. Myers, T.L. Burlak, and L. Hammersley. 2012. Evaluating the Bioavailability, Bioaccessibility, Mineralogy, and Speciation of Arsenic in Mine Waste and Soils, Empire Mine Low-sulfide Gold-quartz Vein Deposit, Nevada County, California. U.S. EPA Hardrock Mining Conference 2012: Advancing Solutions for a New Legacy. Denver, CO. Apr 3-5, 2012
  • Mitchell, Alpers, Basta, Casteel, Foster, Kim, Naught, Myers. 2012. Alternative Methods for the Prediction of Relative Bioavailability of Arsenic in Mining Soils. Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. March 11-15, 2012.
  • Kuhuk Sharma, Priyanka Yadav, Zhiqiang Cheng, Nicholas Basta and Parwinder S. Grewal. 2012. Heavy metal contamination in two post-industrial cities. OARDC Annual Research Forum, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. April, 2012.
  • Basta, N.T. and E.A. Dayton. 2012. Chemical controls of P in the soil. Soil and Water Conservation Society Ohio Chapter Winter Meeting. Reynoldsburg, OH. Jan. 17, 2012.
  • Bartens, Julia, Nick Basta, Sally Brown, Craig Cogger, Bruce Dvorak, Britt Faucette, Peter Groffman, Ganga Hettairachchi, Kristen McIvor, Richard Pouyat, Gurpal Toor, and James Urban. 2012. Soils in the Cities: A look at Urban Soils. CSA News Magazine August Cover Story Publication (official magazine for members of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America), SSSA, Madison, WI. https://www.soils.org/files/publications/csa-news/soils-in-the-city.p df


Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The following nine events presented by N. Basta. Mitchell, Alpers, Basta, Casteel, Foster, Kim, Naught, Myers. 2012. Alternative Methods for the Prediction of Relative Bioavailability of Arsenic in Mining Soils. Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. March 11-15, 2011. Basta, N., K. Scheckel, K. Bradham, D. Thomas, M. Failla, R. Chaney, C. Schadt, and P. Jardine. 2011. Mechanisms and Permance of Sequestered Pb and As in Soils: Impact on Human Bioavailability. Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop sponsored by Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Washington, DC. Nov. 29 to Dec 1, 2011. Basta, N.T., S.D. Whitacre, Valerie Mitchell, and Perry Myers. 2011. Assessing Arsenic Exposure in Soil and Mining Waste Rock by In Vitro Gastrointestinal and Soil Chemical Methods. National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs Annual Meeting, Squaw Creek, CA October 11-13, 2011. Basta, Nicholas, Elizabeth Dayton, Shane Whitacre, Philip Jardine, Stan Casteel, and Amy Hawkins. Use of in Vitro or Soil Property Models to Assess Toxic Metal Bioavailability in Soil: Validation to Support Regulatory Acceptance. 2011. The 4th International Contaminated Site Remediation Conference, Adelaide, Australia, September 11-15, 2011. Basta, N.T. 2011. In Vitro Gastrointestinal Bioaccessibility Methods to Assess Metal(Loid) Bioavailability and Risk from Soil Ingestion . 6th International Workshop on Chemical Bioavailability in the Terrestrial Environment , Adelaide, Australia. September 7-9, 2011. Basta, N.T., S. D. Whitacre, E. A. Dayton, P. M. Jardine, J. S. Richey, S.W. Casteel, and A.L. Hawkins. 2011. Predicting Arsenic Bioavailability in Contaminated Soils Using Bioaccessibility or Soil Properties. 11th International Conference for Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ICOBTE), Florence, Italy. July 3-7, 2011. Whitacre, S.D., N.T. Basta, and E.A. Dayton. 2011. Soil Controls on Arsenic Bioaccessibility: Arsenic Fractions and Soil Properties. 11th International Conference for Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ICOBTE), Florence, Italy. July 3-7, 2011. Basta, N.T. 2011. Mitchell, Alpers, Basta, Burlak, Casteel, Fears, Foster, Kim, Myers, Petersen. 2011. The Role of Iron in the Reduced Bioavailability of Arsenic in Soil. 2011. Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. March 6-10, 2011. Basta, N.T. 2011. Requisites of Soil Contaminant Bioaccessibility Methods. Bioavailability Research Group of Canada Workshop, Toronto, Canada. February 23-24, 2011. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Valerie Mitchell, Perry Myers, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, Sacramento, CA. Dr. Kirk Scheckel (USEPA NRMRL); Dr. Karen Bradham (USEPA NERL); Dr. David Thomas (USEPA NHREEL); Dr. Mark Failla (The Ohio State University); Dr. Rufus Chaney (USDA ARS); Dr. Chris Schadt (Oak Ridge National Laboratory); Dr. Philip Jardine (University of Tennessee) TARGET AUDIENCES: This information is of great interest to environmental agency (i.e., USEPA, OEPA), environmental industry risk assessors. It is also of interest to environmental professionals involved with soil and land assessment that has historical arsenic contamination including agricultural land, golf courses, and mining areas. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Soil byproducts and soil amendments have great potential to remediate contaminated soil. Such inexpensive in situ soil remediation will result in hundreds of millions of dollars by not requiring expensive dig, haul and soil replacement technology. One key regulatory barrier to acceptance of inexpensive remediation via of soil byproduct amendment are methods that demonstrate the risk to human and ecological health has been reduced or eliminated by soil amendments. We report a soil chemical method can be used to accurately assess human health risk from soils contaminated with historical use of arsenic (agricultural pesticides and mining). The arsenic sequential extraction procedure (SEP) measures arsenic in soil that can be a threat to humans if ingested. The SEP also measures arsenic that no longer poses any health risk. Our results show soil and soil amendments high in iron or aluminum oxides chemically immobilize the harmful forms of arsenic. The SEP can be used to evaluate the ability of these soils to detoxify historical arsenic contamination in soil. This test gives us a means to remove the regulatory barrier for inexpensive remediation of contaminated soils using inexpensive widely available iron or aluminum oxide soil amendment

Publications

  • Basta, N.T. 2011. In Vitro Gastrointestinal Bioaccessibility Methods to Assess Metal(Loid) Bioavailability and Risk from Soil Ingestion . 6th International Workshop on Chemical Bioavailability in the Terrestrial Environment , Adelaide, Australia. September 7-9, 2011
  • Wragg, J., Mark Cave, Helen Taylor, Nick Basta, Esther Brandon, Stan Casteel, Sebastien Denys, Christian Gron, Agnes Oomen, Kenneth Reimer, Karine Tack and Tom Van de Wiele. 2011. An Inter-laboratory Trial of the Unified BARGE Bioaccessibility Method for Arsenic, Cadmium and Lead in Soil. Sci. Total Environ. 409:4016-4030.
  • Mitchell, Alpers, Basta, Casteel, Foster, Kim, Naught, Myers. 2012. Alternative Methods for the Prediction of Relative Bioavailability of Arsenic in Mining Soils. Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. March11-15, 2011.
  • Basta, N., K. Scheckel, K. Bradham, D. Thomas, M. Failla, R. Chaney, C. Schadt, and P. Jardine. 2011. Mechanisms and Permance of Sequestered Pb and As in Soils: Impact on Human Bioavailability. Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop sponsored by Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Washington, DC. Nov. 29 to Dec 1, 2011.
  • Basta, N.T., S.D. Whitacre, Valerie Mitchell, and Perry Myers. 2011. Assessing Arsenic Exposure in Soil and Mining Waste Rock by In Vitro Gastrointestinal and Soil Chemical Methods. National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs Annual Meeting, Squaw Creek, CA October 11-13, 2011.
  • Basta, Nicholas, Elizabeth Dayton, Shane Whitacre, Philip Jardine, Stan Casteel, and Amy Hawkins. Use of in Vitro or Soil Property Models to Assess Toxic Metal Bioavailability in Soil: Validation to Support Regulatory Acceptance. 2011. The 4th International Contaminated Site Remediation Conference, Adelaide, Australia, September 11 to 15, 2011.


Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The following eight events presented by N. Basta. Mechanisms and Permanence of Sequestered Pb and As in Soils: Impact on Human Bioavailability. Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop sponsored by Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Washington, DC. Nov. 30 to Dec 2, 2010.; Predicting Trace Element Bioavailability in Contaminated Soils. . Presentation 304-5, ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA. Oct. 31 to Nov. 4, 2010. ; Urban Soil Contaminant Assessment: Important Human Exposure Pathways. Brownfields & Urban Agricultural Reuse Midwest Summit. Chicago, IL, October 21- 22, 2010.; Urban Soil Contaminant Assessment: Important Human Exposure Pathways. Brownfields & Urban Agriculture Webinar. October 7, 2010.; Restoration of Urban Degraded Land in Calumet, IL by using Biosolids and Biochar Soil Amendments. Carbon Sequestration in Urban Ecosystems, Columbus, OH, April 14, 2010. Identifying Predictors for Bioavailability of Arsenic in Soil at Mining Sites. Society of Toxicology 49th Annual Meeting & ToxExpo, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar 7-11, 2010; Assessing Soil's Ability to Reduce Human Exposure to Urban Contaminants: Lead and Arsenic. 2010 North Central Regional Soil Survey Conference, Columbus, OH., June 14-17, 2010.; Ecological Effects of Land Application of Biosolids: Long-term Benefits and Challenges. Calumet Summit 2010: A Call to Connect. Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN April 27-28, 2010. New collaboration for CY 2010 includes Dr. Chris W. Schadt, Oak Ridge National Laborator, Dr. David J. Thomas, USEPA NHREEL and Dr. Mark L. Failla, The Ohio State University. They are co-PI with me on a new $1.6 M 3-yr grant from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) entitled "Mechanisms and Permanence of Sequestered Pb and As in Soils: Impact on Human Bioavailability." PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Richard Dick, Eminent Scholar, Dawn Busalacchi, Graduate Research Assistant, Jennifer Tvergyak,Graduate Research Assistant, The Ohio State University; Dr. Lahwinder Hundal, Dr. Kumar Kuldip, Dr. Albert Cox, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include (1) scientific community, (2) federal, state, and municipal government agencies, and (3) community groups and organizations. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Healthy soils of high quality are the base of ecosystem support. Soil quality is essential for proper functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. An important task of restoration of degraded urban land is accurate evaluation of improved soil quality and its effect on human health and ecosystem function before and after remediation. Evaluation of restored soils should be based on soil quality indices including biological availability / exposure of humans and other ecological receptors to contaminants of concerns such as microconstituents. Our research group at Ohio State University has developed soil quality assessment methods for restoration of degraded soil and ecosystem impacts. We are conducting research work to determine improved soil ecosystem services provided by soils revitalized from land application of biosolids. We are also evaluating the impact of biosolids and other soil treatments on rainfall runoff water quality. We found significant phosphorus runoff from our field experiment where biosolids was used to restore degraded land in Calumet, IL. We incorporated a phosphorus sorbent, drinking water treatment residuals (WTR), downslope of the biosolids treatment. This is a novel approach to use a sorbent to protect surface water quality while restoring degraded land.

Publications

  • Basta, N.T., D. Busalacchi, L. Hundal, and K. Kumar. 2010. Restoration of Urban Degraded Land in Calumet, IL by using Biosolids and Biochar Soil Amendments. Carbon Sequestration in Urban Ecosystems, Columbus, OH, April 14, 2010.
  • Busalacchi, D. , N. Basta, L. Hundal, K. Kumar, T. Granato. 2010. Ecological Effects of Land Application of Biosolids: Long-term Benefits and Challenges. Calumet Summit 2010: A Call to Connect. Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN April 27-28, 2010.
  • Demissie, T., D.E. Storm, M.S. Friend, N.T. Basta, M.E. Payton, M.D. Smolen, and H. Zhang. 2010. Rainfall sequence effects on phosphorus loss in surface runoff from pastures that received poultry litter application. Trans. ASABE 53(4):1147-1158.
  • Van de Wiele, T., Christina M. Gallawa, Kevin M. Kubachka, John T. Creed, Nicholas Basta, Elizabeth A. Dayton, Shane Whitacre, Gijs Du Laing, and Karen Bradham. 2010. Arsenic metabolism by human gut microbiota upon in vitro digestion of contaminated soils. 2010. Environ. Health Perspect. 118(7): 1004-1009.
  • Hale B., N. Basta, C. Boreiko, T. Bowers, B. Locey, M. Moore, M. Moutiere, L. Ritter, E. Smolders, I. Schoeters, and S. Tao. 2010. Variation in soil quality criteria for trace elements to protect human health exposure and effects estimation. p. 81-122. In: Merrington G, Schoeters I, (ed.) Soil quality standards for trace elements: Derivation, Implementation, and Interpretation. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. ISBN 978-1-4398-3023-9. 184 p.
  • Basta, N., K. Scheckel, K. Bradham, D. Thomas, M. Failla, R. Chaney, C. Schadt, and P. Jardine. 2010. Mechanisms and Permanence of Sequestered Pb and As in Soils: Impact on Human Bioavailability. Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop sponsored by Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Washington, DC. Nov. 30 to Dec 2, 2010.
  • Basta, N., E. Dayton, C. Holloman, S. Whitacre, S. Casteel, P. Jardine, T. Melhorn and A. Hawkins. 2010. Predicting Trace Element Bioavailability in Contaminated Soils. Presentation 304-5, ASA, CSSA, and Soil Science Society International Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA. Oct. 31 to Nov. 4, 2010.
  • Basta, N.T. 2010. Urban Soil Contaminant Assessment: Important Human Exposure Pathways. Brownfields & Urban Agricultural Reuse Midwest Summit. Chicago, IL, October 21- 22, 2010.
  • Basta, N.T. 2010. Assessing Soil Ability to Reduce Human Exposure to Urban Contaminants: Lead and Arsenic. 2010 North Central Regional Soil Survey Conference, Columbus, OH., June 14-17, 2010.


Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities included conducting and analyzing experiments for W-1170 project objective 1, "Evaluate the risk posed by residual application to uncontaminated (e.g. baseline) soils on chemistry, bioavailability, and toxicity of nutrients and contaminants." Some of our research on characterization of contaminants in spent foundry sand (SFS) and the potential environmental risk associated with soil application of these materials in residential gardens was published (Dayton et al., 2009). The sample sets included 43 foundries which cast iron, steel, aluminum, or non-leaded brass, and generated SFSs which contained low levels of potentially toxic elements and xenobiotics except for the brass SFS. Iron, steel, and aluminum SFSs may be safely applied to land or used in manufacturing topsoils or potting media with only the limits set by the need of the users, as a small fraction of sand is used in their products. We completed a research project on the characterization of feedstocks and candidate mulches for the development of a new mulch product for The Scotts Company. The Scotts Company generates 3.4 million cubic yards per year of mulch. Currently most mulch products are bark- or recycled wood-based which are becoming scarce. This project provides preliminary data to support a future effort to develop new, renewable and sustainable sources of landscape mulches. We evaluated a candidate feedstock (CF) from low-value by-products to develop new value-added product (i.e., mulch). Elements regulated for land application of biosolids (As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn) are all below the CFR, Part 503 regulatory limit for exceptional quality biosolids. The CF contains nutrients that could be beneficial in the garden. Twenty-seven VOCs were isolated in the CF and characterized by their retention time and mass fragmentation spectra. Two persistent malororous compounds evaluated were dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide. Further research to address these compounds is underway. Application of drinking water treatment residuals (WTR) has been identified as a potential best management practice to reduce the loss of P from agricultural fields. Two field simulated rainfall studies were used to investigate the efficacy of WTR in reducing P transport and soil test P with two different WTR application methods: incorporating WTR with soil with a range in soil test phosphorus (STP) levels and co-blending WTR with surface applied poultry litter. Results are reported in Jason Undercoffer's M.S. thesis (Undercoffer, 2009). Co-blending WTR with manure to achieve a final blended Psat < 100% may provide the best protection of water quality and provide a useful tool for WTR/manure co-blending calibration. Drinking water treatment residuals, applied as best management practices, substantially reduced P transport and would be a useful tool to reduce STP levels in agricultural fields above environmental threshold values. Our events in 2009 included delivery of 4 invited presentations at national, state, and local meetings to large audiences (50 to 300 people). PARTICIPANTS: N. T. Basta, Professor of Soil and Environmental Chemistry, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus. OH. Dr. E.A. Dayton, Research Scientist, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus. OH. Shane Whitacre, Research Associate, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus. R. Dungan and R. Chaney, Research Scientists, USDA ARS, Beltsville, MD. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences for spent foundry sand include the foundry manufacturing industrial sector, state and federal regulators, industry involved in producing soil products (topsoil blenders, horticultural nurseries).The target audiences for soils amendments for ecological restoration include prinicipal responsible parties (PRPs) that own contaminated sites or brownfields, state and federal regulatory agencies, and the environmental green industry that develops products and delivers ecological restoration services. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Beneficial use of SFS in soil blends will promote green technology (i.e., reuse of millions of tons of SFS beneficially and provide a badly needed natural resource of soil substitute), increase the global competitiveness of our Foundry Industry, and create start-up business and jobs focused on production and marketing SFS as a soil substitute and in soil blends. As of 2007, of the 2,000 United States foundries, 93% produce ferrous or aluminum castings, generating 9.4 million tons of non-hazardous SFS annually. Only 28% of the SFS is beneficially used. Diverting 1 million tons annually from landfills ($30/ton) to beneficial use would realize annual savings of $30,000,000 by the Foundry Industry. Our research shows SFS has can be used as a component of manufactured soils. This would allow Ohio Foundries to become more competitive and create start-up industries and jobs in Ohio focused on production and marketing of SFS soil blend materials to the public. The chemical composition of the candidate feedstock (CF) for mulch met federal and state regulatory standards for soil application in residential settings. The CF contains many plant nutrients and will help fertilize plants. The results of this research have been identified as critical by The Scotts Company as part of a major initiative by Scotts to develop a new value-added product utilizing industrial by-products as feedstocks to develop a sustainable landscape mulch product. Initial product testing using customer focus groups has identified malodor as the number one objection to the mulch prototype. Results from this work have identified reduced sulfur compounds as the primary culprits causing malodor. Preliminary data from this project was essential to OARDC researchers in developing the second phase geared toward solving malodor issues quantified here. Transport of phosphorus from agricultural soils to surface waters has been identified by the USEPA as the most imposing threat to surface waters of the United States. This process impairs water quality both aesthetically and limits suitability for water use; it has negative impacts on fishing industries, limits recreational use, and increases costs of drinking water treatment. To reduce P transport from agricultural land, Best Management Practices (BMP) have been developed, many targeted at reducing soil erosion. These BMPs are effective in reducing soil erosion but are not as effective in reducing the loss of dissolved P in runoff water. Results from this study show inexpensive drinking water treatment residuals (WTR) can be used to reduce dissolved P loss from agricultural land. Co-blending WTR with manure to achieve a final blended Psat < 100% may provide the best protection of water quality and provide a useful tool for WTR/manure co-blending calibration. Drinking water treatment residuals, applied as best management practices, substantially reduced P transport and would be a useful tool to reduce STP levels in agricultural fields that are above environmental threshold values.

Publications

  • Dayton, E.A., S.D. Whitacre, R.S. Dungan, and N.T. Basta. 2009. Characterization of physical and chemical properties of spent foundry sands pertinent to beneficial use in manufactured soils. Plant Soil. DOI 10.1007/s11104-009-0120-0
  • Scheckel, K.G., R.L. Chaney, N.T. Basta and J.A. Ryan. 2009. Advances in Assessing Bioavailability of metal(loid)s in Contaminated Soils. Adv. Agron. 107:10-52.
  • Hawkins, Amy, Nick Basta, Elizabeth Dayton, Roman Lanno, Mark Barnett, Phil Jardine, Stan Casteel, and Kaye Savage. 2009. Soil Properties, Metal Bioavailability and Risk Assessment. Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop sponsored by Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Washington, DC. Dec 1-3, 2009.
  • Nicholas T. Basta, Karen D. Bradham, Kirk G. Scheckel, and David J. Thomas. 2009. Assessing Arsenic Bioavailability in Soil When in Vitro Gastrointestinal Methods Are the Only Option. Presentation 126-4, Soil Science Society Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. Nov. 1-5, 2009.
  • Elizabeth Dayton, Jason Undercoffer, and Nicholas Basta. 2009. Co-Blending Poultry Litter with A Phosphorus Sorbent Prior to Land Application to Reduce Soil Test and Runoff Phosphorus. Presentation 150-1. Soil Science Society Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. Nov. 1-5, 2009.
  • Shane D. Whitacre, Nicholas T. Basta and Elizabeth A. Dayton. 2009. Soil Controls On Arsenic Bioaccessibility: Arsenic Fractions and Soil Properties. Presentation 208-2. Soil Science Society Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. Nov. 1-5, 2009.
  • Betts, A. and N.T. Basta. 2009. Remediation of Soil Contaminated with Lead Using Soil Amendments. Water Management Association of Ohio 2009 Fall Conference, Columbus, OH. November 4-5, 2009.
  • Rufus L. Chaney, Kirk G. Scheckel, Nicholas T. Basta and James A. Ryan. 2009. Progress in Understanding Element Bioavailability and Bioaccessibility in Soils. Third International Contaminated Site Remediation Conference, Adelaide South Australia. September 27-30, 2009.
  • Basta, N.T., E.A. Dayton, S.D. Whitacre. 2009. Characterization of feedstocks and candidate mulches for the development of a new mulch product for The Scotts Company. Final Report. OARDC SEEDS.


Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities included conducting and analyzing experiments for W-1170 project objective 1, "Evaluate the risk posed by residual application to uncontaminated (e.g. baseline) soils on chemistry, bioavailability, and toxicity of nutrients and contaminants." Specifically we performed research on risk characterization of spent foundry sands in soil-related applications. This was a collaborative project with R. Chaney (USDA ARS) (W-1170 member), R. Dungan (USDA ARS), and USEPA OCRC EMRAD. We also conducted research and analyzed experiments for the W-1170 project objective 2, " Evaluate the ability of in situ treatment of contaminated soil with residuals to reduce chemical contaminant bioavailability and reduce toxicity." Specifically we performed research that linked solid phase speciation of Pb sequestered to birnessite to oral Pb bioaccessibility of contaminated soil. In addition to delivery of a research results at our annual W-1170 meeting in 2008, our events included delivery of 8 invited presentations, including keynote and plenary presentation, at 6 national meetings to large audiences and organizing, sponsoring and delivery of a regional workshop. All of these events had audiences ranging in 50 to 300 people. Abstracts and proceedings were distributed to all attendees. The most significant presentations were delivered at the following national meetings: USEPA 2008 Beneficial Use of Industrial Materials Summit, Denver CO. March 30-April 3, 2008; Workshop on Microconstituents and Ecological Impacts Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Chicago, IL, June 25-26, 2008; Synagro Technical Services Training. Baltimore, MD, June 2-4, 2008; SERDP and ESTCP workshop on research and development needs for understanding and assessing the bioavailability of contaminants in soils and sediments, Annapolis, MD, Aug. 20-21, 2008. ). Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop sponsored by Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Washington, DC. Dec 2-4, 2008; Synagro Technical Services Training. Baltimore, MD, June 2-4, 2008. We organized, sponsored and delivered a workshop "Foundry sand use in soil applications" held on July 23, 2008 at The Ohio State University. The workshop was co-sponsored by USEPA Region V, USDA ARS, and Foundry Industry Recycling Starts Today (FIRST). The workshop was very well attended exceeding 100 persons. Workshops reviews from attendees were excellent. PARTICIPANTS: N. T. Basta, Professor of Soil and Environmental Chemistry, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus. OH. Dr. E.A. Dayton, Research Scientist, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus. OH. Shane Whitacre, Research Associate, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus. D.G. Beak, former Graduate Research Assistant, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus. R. Dungan and R. Chaney, Research Scientists, USDA ARS, Beltsville, MD. Dr. Peter Grevatt, Director, USEPA EMRAD, Washington, DC. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences for spent foundry sand include the foundry manufacturing industrial sector, state and federal regulators, industry involved in producing soil products (topsoil blenders, horticultural nurseries).The target audiences for soils amendments for ecological restoration include prinicipal responsible parties (PRPs) that own contaminated sites or brownfields, state and federal regulatory agencies, and the environmental green industry that develops products and delivers ecological restoration services. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Beneficial use of SFS and other byproducts is limited from lack of guidelines to evaluate the risks to humans and the environment associated with specific beneficial uses of SFS. This research shows a tiered approach can be used to evaluate byproducts either applied directly to land or mixed in manufactured soils. The first tier use of a screening level based on the 95th percentile of chemicals of concern with SFS contents. Exceeding the 95th percentile does not automatically cause SFS to fail, but is does indicate the need for a more careful evaluation of the potential for causing adverse effects using the Pathway Approach for Risk Assessment. Byproduct screening guidelines will allow us to realize beneficial use of byproducts and save money for generators and society. In conjunction with USDA ASRS and USEPA EPA, we published a draft of a high impact document "Risk Characterization of Spent Foundry Sands in Soil-Related Applications." This document will be the basis for national guidelines for beneficial use of foundry sand. We are currently working with USA ARS and USEPA to finalize this document. This will allow beneficial reuse of potentially up to 10 million tons of foundry sand in the US and save our manufacturing industry millions of dollars, thereby increasing their competitiveness, while benefiting the public. Using soil amendments for ecological restoration is an attractive remediation method that may soon gain acceptance by regulatory agencies. Using soil amendment is an attractive technology when one considers that current technology of excavation and replacement of contaminated soil often ranges from 10 to 200 million dollars. Remediation costs using soil amendments will be <1% of the cost using current remediation methods. Regardless of the remediation technology, risk from ingestion of contaminated soil must be reduced for the technology to be adopted. Our results show that Mn oxide soil amendments can sorb Pb strongly and reduce bioavailability and risk associated with ingestion of Mn oxide-treated-Pb-contaminated soil. This offers an inexpensive technology to remediation lead contaminated soils in urban areas and on agricultural areas with historical contamination from lead-based pesticides.

Publications

  • Anderson, R.H., N.T. Basta. (2008). Application of Ridge Regression to Determine the Effect of Soil Properties on Phytotoxicity of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn in Soil. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. In Press. Published Online: December 2, 2008. http://www.setacjournals.org/perlserv/request=get-abstract&doi=10.18 97%2F08-062.1
  • Anderson, R.H., and N.T. Basta. (2008). Application of Ridge Regression to Quantify Marginal Effects of Collinear Soil Properties on Phytoaccumulation of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. In press. Published Online: November 3, 2008. http://www.setacjournals.org/perlserv/request=get-abstract&doi=10.18 97%2F08-186.1
  • Basta, N.T., R.L. Chaney, and J.A. Ryan. 2008. Soil Element Bioavailability in Risk Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Upland Soils (Keynote presentation). Electronic conference proceedings. Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop sponsored by Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Washington, DC. Dec 2-4, 2008
  • Basta, N.T., K.D. Bradham, and K.G. Scheckel. Assessing Arsenic Oral (Bio)Availability in Soil and Human Health Risk by Using In Vitro Gastrointestinal Methods . Electronic conference proceedings. Presentation 71-8. Tuesday, 7 October 2008. Joint Meeting of the Society of Soil Science Society of America and The Geological Society of America, Houston, TX, Oct. 5-9, 2008.
  • Chaney, R.L., N.T. Basta and J.A. Ryan. 2008. Element Bioavailability and Bioaccessibility in Soils: What is known now, and what are the significant data gaps Electronic conference proceedings. SERDP and ESTCP workshop on research and development needs for understanding and assessing the bioavailability of contaminants in soils and sediments, Annapolis, MD, Aug. 20-21, 2008.
  • Basta, N.T. 2008. Ecological Effects of Land Application of Biosolids. Electronic conference proceedings. Workshop on Microconstituents and Ecological Impacts Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Chicago, IL, June 25-26, 2008.
  • Basta, N.T. 2008. Evaluating Industrial Residuals for Land Application and Other Uses. Electronic conference proceedings. Synagro Technical Services Training. Baltimore, MD, June 2-4, 2008.
  • Basta, N.T., E.A. Dayton, S.D Whitacre, J.S. Undercoffer, R.S. Dungan, and R.L. Chaney. 2008. Evaluating risk-based pathways for beneficial use of spent foundry sand. Electronic conference proceedings. Beneficial use guidelines development - Foundry sands session, USEPA 2008 Beneficial Use of Industrial Materials Summit, Denver CO. March 30-April 3, 2008.
  • Dayton, E.A. and N.T. Basta. 2008. Beneficial use of drinking water treatment residuals as a phosphorus sorbent. Electronic conference proceedings.USEPA 2008 Beneficial Use of Industrial Materials Summit, Denver CO. March 30-April 3, 2008.
  • Anderson, R.H., N.T. Basta, and R.P. Lanno. (2008). Using a Plant Contaminant Sensitivity Index to Quantify the Effects of Soil Properties on Arsenate Phytotoxicity. J. Environ. Qual. 37 :1701-1709.
  • Schroder, J.L., H. Zhang, D. Zhou, N. Basta, W.R. Raun, M.E. Payton, and A. Zazulak. (2008). The effect of long-term annual application of biosolids on soil properties, P, and metals. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 72:73-82.
  • Christopher M. Hurdzan, Nicholas T. Basta, Patrick G. Hatcher, and Olli H. Tuovinen. (2008). Phenanthrene Release from Natural Organic Matter Surrogates under Simulated Human Gastrointestinal Conditions. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 69(3):525-530.
  • Beak, Douglas G., Basta, Nicholas T., Scheckel, Kirk G., and Traina, Samuel J. (2008). Linking solid phase speciation of Pb sequestered to birnessite to Pb bioaccessibility and oral bioavailability. Environ. Sci. Technol. 42:779-785.
  • Dayton, E.A. , N.T. Basta, and S.D. Whitacre. 2008. Tools for evaluating byproducts for beneficial use in soils application. Electronic conference proceedings. USEPA 2008 Beneficial Use of Industrial Materials Summit, Denver CO. March 30-April 3, 2008.


Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Progress was made on project objectives 2 and 3. Specifically, research focused on (i) the ability of in situ amendments to reduce the gastrointestinal bioavailability of lead and (ii) the long-term bioavailability and toxicity of trace elements in biosolids-amended agricultural soils. In this study, Pb was sorbed to a model soil mineral, birnessite, and was placed in a simulated gastrointestinal tract (in vitro) to simulate the possible effects of ingestion of a soil contaminated with Pb. The changes in Pb speciation were determined using extended X-ray absorption fine structure and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy. Birnessite has a very high affinity for Pb with a sorption maximum of 0.59 mol Pb kg-1 (approximately 12% Pb sorbed by mass) in which there was no detectable bioaccessible Pb (<0.002%). Surface speciation of the birnessite Pb was determined to be a triple corner sharing complex in the birnessite interlayer. Lead sorbed to Mn oxide in contaminated media will have a very low (≈0)Pb bioaccessibility and present little risk associated with incidental ingestion of soil. Progress was made on project objective 3. Specifically, conducted research focused on the long-term bioavailability and toxicity of trace elements in biosolids-amended agricultural soils. Laboratory bioassays and soil chemical analyses were performed on soils that received a one time application of biosolids in 1992. Field plots at Ohio State University's Waterman farm in Columbus, OH, were established by Dr. Terry Logan. The experimental design featured 10 rates of biosolids ranging 0 to 300 Mg/ha and 4 replications of each application rate. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Kirk Scheckel, U.S.Environmental Protection Agency, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH. Dr. Karen Bradham, Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory Research Triangle Park, NC. Dr. Elizabeth Dayton, School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus,OH. Dr. Roman Lanno, Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus,OH. Dr. Jackie Schroder, Dept. of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK. TARGET AUDIENCES: Scientific community focused on beneficial use of byproducts via land application (USDA-CSREES National Water Conference and Soil Science Society of America) and members of the USDA CSREES Technical Group W-1170. Results were presented at scientific meetings and in peer-reviewed publications to reach these audiences. U.S. EPA Office Solid Waste Regulators and Scientists that regulate beneficial use of byproducts. Presentation were made at a special session chaired by USEPA OSW at the Society of Risk Analysis. Our OARDC report will reach the various publics and stakeholders interested in biosolids land application in Ohio.

Impacts
Results from objective 2 suggest that birnessite and other Mn oxides would be powerful remediation tools for Pb-contaminated media because of their high affinity for Pb. Results from objective 3 showed that trace element bioavailability to Lolium perenne (i.e., perennial ryegrass) and Eisenia andrei (i.e., earthworms) was low in the biosolids-treated soils. We reported our results to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) last year. Several findings summarized in the report are: Biosolids increased soil Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pb, and Zn content. Soil metal levels at the high biosolids application rate (300 Mg/ha) were well below the U.S. EPA Part 503 limits but were at or slightly above the Canadian regulatory limits. Most of the biosolids metal (<1%) is not present in an easily extractable or readily bioavailable form. Biosolids application affects soil properties important in metal bioavailability to ecological receptors (i.e., soil pH, organic carbon content, reactive Fe oxide). Biosolids increased plant nutrients in soil including N, P, Fe, Cu, and Zn. Sustained increase of plant nutrients after 14 years shows this is a long-term benefit associated with land application of biosolids. Biosolids increased ryegrass dry matter growth. These increases were due to increased plant available N in soil. Biosolids application did not result in ryegrass phytotoxicity. Tissue metal levels were below levels that may result in phytotoxicity. Total and DTPA chemical extraction methods were more predictive than calcium nitrate extraction for ryegrass tissue Cu and Zn. Soil extraction methods used for highly contaminated soils may not be accurate for biosolids-treated soils and visa-versa. Earthworms (Eisenia andrei) exposed in the laboratory to biosolids-amended soils from Waterman Farm plots accumulated metals from the soils. The most marked observation was that Cd bioaccumulation was directly proportional to Cd concentration (i.e., linear dose-accumulation curve). Cd levels in earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus, L. terrestris) collected from the field plots were similar to those found in worms (Eisenia andrei) exposed to soils amended with biosolids (300 Mg/ha) at 56 days. Results from our long-term biosolids field study shows that land application of biosolids improved plant nutrition and did not result ecotoxicity to plants or earthworms. Soil analysis suggests most of the organic fraction of the biosolids had decomposed suggesting reaction of biosolids with soil was essentially complete. Biosolids improved soil properties and plant growth and did not have a negative ecosystem effect. These results suggest land application of biosolids is a sustainable practice.

Publications

  • Beak, Douglas G., Basta, Nicholas T., Scheckel, Kirk G., and Traina, Samuel J. 2008. Linking solid phase speciation of Pb sequestered to birnessite to Pb bioaccessibility and oral bioavailability. Environ. Sci. Technol.(in press).
  • Schroder, J.L., H. Zhang, D. Zhou, N. Basta, W.R. Raun, M.E. Payton, and A. Zazulak. 2008. The effect of long-term annual application of biosolids on soil properties, P, and metals. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. (in press).
  • Basta, N.T., J.N. Foster, E.A. Dayton, R.R. Rodriguez, and S.W. Casteel. 2007. The effect of dosing vehicle on arsenic bioaccessibility in smelter-contaminated soils. J. Environ. Health Sci. Part A. 42:1275-1281.
  • Brown, S.L., H. Compton, and N.T. Basta. 2007. Field test of in situ soil amendments at the Tar Creek National Priorities List Superfund site. J. Environ. Qual. 36:1627-1634.
  • Basta, N.T., and E.A. Dayton. 2007. Evaluating byproducts for beneficial use in soil applications. In Electronic conference proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis, San Antonio, TX, Dec. 9-12, 2007.
  • Basta, N.T., E.A. Dayton, G.A. O Connor, J. Ippolito, and H. Elliott. 2007. Application of water treatment residuals to reduce phosphorus loss from agricultural land and to protect surface and ground water. In Electronic conference proceedings of USDA-CSREES National Water Conference, Savannah, GA, Jan. 28-30, 2007.
  • Basta, Nicholas, Jill Foster, and Kirk Scheckel. 2007. Arsenic speciation using extended X-ray absorption fine structure and chemical extraction methods to assess oral bioavailability. Presentation 91-6, Nov. 5, 2007. In Electronic conference proceedings of Soil Science Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Nov. 4-8, 2007.
  • Basta, N.T., and R.P. Lanno. 2007. Quantifying ecological risk from agricultural land treated with biosolids, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Project 2004-081. Final Report 19 pp.


Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06

Outputs
Progress was made on project objectives 2 and 3 Specifically, research focused on (i) the ability of the ability of in situ amendments to reduce the gastrointestinal bioavailability of arsenic and lead, (ii) beneficial use of by products, and (iii) the long-term bioavailability and toxicity of trace elements in biosolids -amended agricultural soils.. The ability of soil amendments to decrease risk associated with ingestion of soil with arsenic and lead was determined. Arsenate or lead sorbed to ferrihydrite or corundum model soil oxide minerals were used to simulate possible effects of ingestion of soil contaminated with As(V) or Pb(II) sorbed to soil amendments containing Fe or Al oxides. Arsenate or lead sorbed to ferrihydrite or corundum were placed in a simulated gastrointestinal tract (in vitro) to ascertain the bioaccessibility of As(V) or Pb(II) and changes in As(V) or Pb(II) surface speciation caused by the gastrointestinal system. The speciation of As or Pb was determined using Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) analysis and X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES). Results for As(V) sorbed to ferrihydrite and corundum suggest that the bioaccessibility of As(V) is related to the As(V) concentration, and the As(V) adsorption maximum. Sorption of Pb(II) was significant for all the model oxides used. The bioaccessibility Pb(II) for sorbed Pb(II) concentrations greater than 200 mg kg-1 was greater than 85 %. However below 200 mg kg-1 there was no bioaccessible Pb(II). The long-term bioavailability and ecotoxicity of trace elements contaminants land applied with biosolids was determined. Laboratory bioassays were performed on soils that received has not received biosolids for 12 years. Results showed that trace element bioavailability to Lolium perenne (i.e., perennial ryegrass) and Eisenia andrei (i.e., earthworms) was low in the biosolids-treated soils. Toxicity from biosolids was not observed in the bioassays. Trace elements and nutrients from biosolids application alleviated potential copper and zinc micronutrients deficiencies and greatly increased ryegrass biomass.

Impacts
Using soil amendments for ecological restoration is an attractive remediation method that may soon gain acceptance by regulatory agencies. Using soil amendment is an attractive technology when one considers that current technology of excavation and replacement of contaminated soil often ranges from 10 to 200 million dollars. Remediation costs using soil amendments will be < 1% of the cost using current remediation methods. Regardless of the remediation technology, risk from ingestion of contaminated soil must be reduced for the technology to be adopted. Our results show that inexpensive Fe and Al oxide soil amendments can sorb arsenic strongly and reduce bioavailability and risk associated with ingestion of oxide treated arsenic contaminated soil. However, use of Fe or Al oxides may have limited effectiveness when risk of Pb from soil ingestion is of major concern. The long-term effect of trace elements, including heavy metals, land applied with biosolids remains a concern. Results from our long-term biosolids field study shows that land application of biosolids improved plant nutrition and did not result ecotoxicity to plants or earthworms. Soil analysis suggests most of the organic fraction of the biosolids had decomposed suggesting reaction of biosolids with soil was essentially complete. Biosolids improved soil properties and plant growth and did not have a negative ecosystem effect. These results suggest land application of biosolids is a sustainable practice.

Publications

  • Beak, D.G., N.T. Basta, K.G. Scheckel, and S.J. Traina. 2006. Bioaccessibility of lead sequestered to corundum and ferrihydrite in a simulated gastrointestinal system. J. Environ. Qual. 35:2075-2083.
  • Beak, D.G., N.T. Basta, K.G. Scheckel, and S.J. Traina. 2006. Bioaccessibility of arsenic bound to corundum using a simulated gastrointestinal system. Environ. Chem. 3:208-214.
  • Beak, D.G., N.T. Basta, K.G. Scheckel, and S.J. Traina. 2006. Bioaccessibility of arsenic (V) bound to ferrihydrite using a simulated gastrointestinal system. Environ. Sci. Technol. 40:1364-1370.
  • Dayton, E.A. and N.T. Basta. 2006. Beneficial use of municipal/industrial byproducts to protect surface water quality. U.S. EPA 2006 Byproducts Beneficial Use Summit. San Francisco, Ca, November 29-30, 2006.
  • Dayton, E.A. and N.T. Basta. 2006. Approaches for evaluating byproducts for beneficial use in soil applications. U.S. EPA 2006 Byproducts Beneficial Use Summit. San Francisco, Ca, November 29-30, 2006.
  • Lanno, R.P. , N. Basta, and A. Voigt. 2006. Extension of laboratory-derived measures of metal bioavailability to agricultural land treated with sewage sludge. Society of Toxicology and Environmental Chemistry, North America 27th Annual Meeting, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Nov. 5-9, 2006.
  • Dayton, E.A., N.T. Basta, S.D. Whitacre, and R.S. Dungan. 2006. Characterization and beneficial reuse of spent foundry sands. American Foundry Society, 18th Environmental Health and Safety Conference. Nashville, TN, September 17-20, 2006.
  • Novak, J.M., A.A Szogi, D.W. Watts, N.T. Basta, E. Dayton, and T.C. Caesar-TonThat. 2006. Use of water treatment residuals as a best management practice to bind P in upland soil and wetland ecosystems. 18th World Soil Science Congress Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. July 9-15, 2006.


Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05

Outputs
Progress was made on project objective 2. Specifically, research focused on (i) the ability of the ability of in situ amendments to reduce the gastrointestinal bioavailability of arsenic and lead, and (ii) beneficial use of water treatment residuals to reduce the P solubility in soil, poultry litter, and biosolids. Arsenate or lead sorbed to ferrihydrite, corundum, and birnessite model soil oxide minerals were used to simulate possible effects of ingestion of soil contaminated with As(V) or Pb(II) sorbed to oxide mineral surfaces. Arsenate or lead sorbed to ferrihydrite, corundum, or birnessite were placed in a simulated gastrointestinal tract (in vitro) to ascertain the bioaccessibility of As(V) or Pb(II) and changes in As(V) or Pb(II) surface speciation caused by the gastrointestinal system. The speciation of As or Pb was determined using Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) analysis and X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES). Results for As(V) sorbed to ferrihydrite and corundum suggest that the bioaccessibility of As(V) is related to the As(V) concentration, and the As(V) adsorption maximum. The results for As(V) sorbed birnessite suggest that birnessite can reduce the bioaccessibility of As(V) in contaminated soil and the desorption of the As(V) from the birnessite surface is the mode of bioaccessibility. Sorption of Pb(II) was significant for all the model oxides used. The sorption maximum was found to be 2.13 g kg-1 for corundum, 38.6 g kg-1 for ferrihydrite, and 127 g kg-1 for birnessite. Although ferrihydrite and corundum would be useful for remediation of Pb contaminated media, it would be limited in effectiveness when risk of incidental ingestion is of major concern. Caution should be used before using these materials to remediate a soil where incidental ingestion is an important exposure pathway. There was no measurable bioaccessible Pb(II) for any concentration of Pb sorbed birnessite. Because of the low bioaccessibility Pb(II) sorbed to birnessite, birnessite would be an attractive remediation tool even when the risk of incidental ingestion is of concern. Large amounts of amorphous aluminum or iron oxide in drinking water treatment residuals (WTR) can result in a large phosphorus (P) sorption capacity (Pmax). The strong relationship between amorphous Al (Alox) and Langmuir P sorption capacity (Pmax) in WTR was shown to be a useful tool for determining Pmax without the onus of the multipoint batch equilibrations necessary for the Langmuir model. A new method was developed that accurately determines WTR Pmax from Alox.

Impacts
Adding chemical sorbents to arsenic contaminated soil may serve as an inexpensive method. Many chemical immobilization treatments have been proposed in the last decade. However, few treatments are successful in reducing contaminant risks from soil ingestion by children. Our results show that inexpensive Fe and Al oxide minerals can sorb arsenic strongly and reduce the bioavailability and risk associated with ingestion of oxide treated arsenic contaminated soil. However, Mn oxides are the best treatment to reduce risk associated with ingestion of Pb treated soil. The accurate determination of WTR Pmax and Alox is essential in using WTR effectively to reduce soluble P in agricultural runoff water, to reduce the solubility of P in agricultural soils or organic waste materials (biosolids, manure)and to calibrate WTR application. Currently, most utilities are land filling their WTR. These utilities are very interested in land application of WTR because (i) it will decrease their waste disposal expenses, and (ii) it may help protect their source water from agricultural runoff. The major stumbling block for utilities is obtaining permits for land application. However, predicting the performance of a given WTR to reduce runoff P is necessary to obtain permits from regulatory agencies. This research provides information necessary for land application of their WTR often required by regulatory agencies.

Publications

  • Basta, N.T., J.A. Ryan, and R. L. Chaney. 2005. Trace element chemistry in residual-treated soil: Key concepts and metal bioavailability. J. Environ. Qual. 34: 49-63.
  • Zhang, H., J.L. Schroder, J.K. Fuhrman, N.T. Basta, D. Storm, and M.E. Payton. 2005. Path and multiple regression analyses of phosphorus sorption capacity as affected by soil properties. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 69:96-106.
  • Basta, N.T. and R. Checkai. 2005. Terrestrial land application of byproducts: Ecological paradigms. Philosophies and approaches for developing environmental guidelines and regulation for land-applied waste symposium. Soil Science Society Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, Nov. 6-10, 2005.
  • Basta, N.T. 2005. Gastrointestinal bioaccessibility of metals in contaminated and biosolids amended soils. Revisiting Metal Behavior in Biosolids Amended Soils: Applying Knowledge Gained to an Understanding of Behavior of Metals in Soils System Symposium. Soil Science Society Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, Nov. 6-10, 2005.
  • Beak, D.G., N.T. Basta, K.Scheckel, and S. Traina. 2005. Bioaccessibility of Arsenic bound to Ferrihydrite, American Chemical Society National meeting, Washington, DC, August 28, 2005.
  • Basta, N.T. 2005. Using In Vitro Gastrointestinal Bioaccessibility Methods to Quantify Trace Element Bioavailability and Risk from Soil Ingestion: A Perspective on Research Needs and Activities in the USA. Canadian Workshop on Bioavailability and Creation of the Canadian Bioavailability Working Group, Toronto, Canada, August 30-31, 2005.
  • Basta, N.T. and E.A. Dayton. 2005. Using Drinking Water Treatment Residuals to Reduce Phosphorus Risk Index Scores of Land Treated with Animal Manure or Biosolids, Innovative Uses of Biosolids and Animal and Industrial Residuals, Water Environment Federation and USEPA Region V, Chicago, IL, June 30-July 1, 2005.
  • Basta, N.T. and G.M. Pierzynski. 2005. Quantifying Reduction In Bioavailability And Human And Ecological Risk In Treated Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils Using In Vitro Methods And Bioassays, 8th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements, Adelaide, Australia, April 3-7, 2005.
  • Dayton, E.A, N.T. Basta. 2005. Using Drinking Water Treatment Residuals as a Best Management Practice to Reduce Phosphorus Risk Index Scores. J. Environ. Qual. 2005 34: 1112-1118.
  • Dayton, E.A., and N.T. Basta. 2005. A method for determining phosphorus sorption capacity and amorphous aluminum of Al-based drinking water treatment residuals. J. Environ. Qual. 34: 1112-1118.
  • Mullen, R.W., W.R. Raun, N.T. Basta, J.L. Schroder, and K.W. Freeman. 2005. Effect of long-term application of biosolids on molybdenum content and quality of winter wheat forage. J. Plant Nutr. 28:405-420.
  • O'Connor, G.A., H. A. Elliott, N. T. Basta, R. K. Bastian, G. M. Pierzynski, R. C. Sims and J. E. Smith, Jr. 2005. Sustainable land application: An overview. J. Environ. Qual. 34: 1-6.
  • Beak, D.G., N.T. Basta, K.G. Scheckel, and S.J. Traina. 2005. Bioaccessibility of arsenic (V) bound to ferrihydrite using a simulated gastrointestinal system. Environ. Sci. Technol. In press.
  • Beak, D. G. and N.T. Basta. 2005. The bioaccessibility of arsenic bound to ferrihydrite. 8th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements, Adelaide, Australia, April 3-7, 2005.
  • Dayton, E.A., and N.T. Basta. 2005. In Vitro Extraction Methods and Ecotoxicity Endpoints of Lactuca Sativa in Arsenic Contaminated Soils. 8th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements, Adelaide, Australia, April 3-7, 2005.
  • Beak, Douglas G. 2005. Ph.D. Dissertation. Lead and arsenic and lead speciation and bioaccessibility following sorption on oxide mineral surfaces. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.


Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04

Outputs
Research has shown that Al-based materials (drinking water treatment residuals, WTR and aluminum sulfate,alum) can be utilized effectively to reduce P solubility and P transport to surface or ground water. Several best management practices (BMPs) have been proposed to utilize WTR. One is to surface apply WTR to remove dissolved P from agricultural runoff water. Another beneficial use of WTR is to incorporate it into soil to reduce P solubility and prevent P leaching. Beneficial use of Al-based materials has also been extended to reducing P solubility in organic soil amendments such as manure or biosolids by co-blending with WTR or alum. Long term studies initiated in 1995, have been conducted to compare P leaching between alum treated and untreated poultry litter. Six Al-based WTR were used to examine potential application strategies to reduce P solubility (transport) in soil and organic soil ammendments. A simulated rainfall study was used to determine reductions in runoff P as a result of WTR applications of 0, 5, 10, or 20 Mg ha-1. WTR were incorporated into a soil with a high soil P-test (Mehlich III P, 315 mg kg-1) at 0, 1, 2.5, or 5 % and incubated for 21 days. WTR were co-blended with a biosolid and a poultry litter at 0, 10, 25, 50, or 75 % (by weight) and incubated for 90 days. Mean runoff P reduction ranged from 0, 18.4, 36.3, and 66.6 % for 0, 5, 10, or 20 Mg ha-1 WTR applications, respectively. When WTR was incorporated into a soil (Mehlich III P, 315 mg kg-1), mean Mehlich III extractable P reduction ranged from 0, 10.2, 19.1, 34.7, and 54.7 % and mean 0.01 M CaCl2 extractable P, reductions from 0, 63.7, 78.2, 84.8. and 91.0 % for 0, 1, 2.5, or 5 % WTR applications, respectively. When WTR was co-blended with a biosolid mean Mehlich III extractable P reduction ranged from 0, 51.3, 65.3, 79.0, and 87.1 %, and mean 0.01 M CaCl2 extractable P reduction from 0, 39.3, 63.9, 77.0, and 85.5 % for 0, 10, 25, 50 and 75 % WTR application, respectively. When WTR was co-blended with a chicken litter mean Mehlich III extractable P reduction ranged from 0, 32.7, 64.3, 80.6, and 87.6 %, and mean 0.01 M CaCl2 extractable P reduction from 0, 62.7, 87.9, 93.6, and 93.9 % for 0, 10, 25, 50 and 75 % WTR application, respectively. Long term studies with alum-treated poultry litter showed runoff P reductions of 70% when compared with untreated litter.

Impacts
Currently, most utilities are landfilling their WTR. These utilities are very interested in land application of WTR because (i) it will decrease their waste disposal expenses, and (ii) it may help protect their source water from agricultural runoff. The major stumbling block for utilities is obtaining permits for land application. However, predicting the performance of a given WTR to reduce runoff P is necessary to obtain permits from regulatory agencies. This research provides information necessary for land application of their WTR often required by regulatory agencies.

Publications

  • Dayton, E.A., and N.T. Basta. 2005. A method for determining phosphorus sorption capacity and amorphous aluminum of Al-based drinking water treatment residuals. J. Environ. Qual. In press.
  • Mullen, R. W., W.R. Raun, N.T. Basta, J.L. Schroder, and K.W. Freeman. 2005. Effect of long-term application of biosolids on molybdenum content and quality of winter wheat forage. J. Plant Nutr. In Press.
  • Zhang, H., J.L. Schroder, J.K. Fuhrman, N.T. Basta, D. Storm, and M.E. Payton. 2005. Path and multiple regression analyses of phosphorus sorption capacity as affected by soil properties. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 69:96-106.
  • Basta, N.T. 2004. Ecological risk frameworks and beneficial land application of by-products. Great Lakes Management By-Products Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, Dec 1-3, 2004.
  • Basta, N.T., E.A. Dayton, J.M. Novak, P.A. Moore, D.W. Watts. Immobilization of Phosphorus and Manure Using Al-Based Treatments and Byproducts 4th International Phosphorus Workshop in Wageningen, The Netherlands (16-19 August, 2004).
  • Basta, N.T. 2004. Heavy metal and trace element chemistry in residual-treated soil: Implications on metal bioavailability and sustainable land application. Plenary presentation to be presented at Sustainable Land Application Conference, Lake Buena Vista, FL., Jan. 4-8, 2004.
  • O'Connor, G.A., H. A. Elliott, N. T. Basta, R. K. Bastian, G. M. Pierzynski, R. C. Sims and J. E. Smith, Jr. 2005. Sustainable land application: An overview. J. Environ. Qual. 34: 1-6.
  • Basta, N.T., J.A. Ryan, and R. L. Chaney. 2005. Trace element chemistry in residual-treated soil: Key concepts and metal bioavailability. J. Environ. Qual. 34: 49-63.