Detecting organic contaminants in the unsaturated zone using soil and soil-pore water samples.

ABSTRACT A lysimeter study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of soil core and soil-pore water samples in detecting the movement of organic constituents from land-treated industrial wastes. Lysimeters collected from the Bastrop (Udic Paleustalf), Padina (Grossarenic Paleustalf), and Weswood (Fluventic Ustochrept) soils were amended with a refinery separator sludge, a wood-preserving bottom sediment sludge, or a nonhalogenated solvent recovery sludge at rates of 50, 15, and 50 g kg−1, respectively. Soil-pore water samples from porous ceramic cups and soil cores were collected monthly at three depths in the lysimeters to monitor n-alkanes and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons from the petroleum waste, phenols and cresols from the wood-preserving waste, and aromatic solvents from the solvent recovery waste. The organic carbon normalized soil sorption coefficient (Koc) may be useful for determining when soil-pore water or soil core samples will be most effective in detecting organic chemicals in the u...