Derivation of human health and odor risk control values for soil ammonia nitrogen by incorporating solid-liquid partitioning, ammonium/ammonia equilibrium: A case study of a retired nitrogen fertilizer site in China

Abstract

Nitrogen fertilizer supports agricultural intensification, but its manufacturing results in substantial contaminated sites. Ammonia nitrogen is the main specific pollutant in retired nitrogen fertilizer sites with potential human health and odor risks. However, few studies focus on ammonia nitrogen risk assessment at contaminated sites, particularly considering its solid-liquid partitioning process (Kd) and ammonium/ammonia equilibrium process (R) in the soil. This study took a closed nitrogen fertilizer factory site as an example and innovatively introduced Kd and R to scientifically assess the human health and odor risk of ammonia nitrogen. The risk control values (RCVs) of ammonia nitrogen based on human health and odor risk were also derived. The maximum concentration of ammonia nitrogen was 3380 mg/kg in the unsaturated soil, which was acceptable for human health because the health RCVs were 5589 ∼ 137,471 mg/kg in various scenarios. However, odor risk was unacceptable for RCVs were 296 ∼ 1111 mg/kg under excavation scenarios and 1118 ∼ 35,979 mg/kg under non-excavation scenarios. Of particular concern, introducing Kd and R in calculation increased the human health and odor RCVs by up to 27.92 times. Despite the advancements in ammonia risk assessment due to the introduction of Kd and R, odor risk during excavation remains a vital issue. These findings inform a more scientific assessment of soil ammonia risk at contaminated sites and provide valuable insights for the management and redevelopment of abandoned nitrogen fertilizer plant sites.