Effect of polychlorinated biphenyls on the physical properties of soils

Abstract

Model experiments were performed for studying the effect of different concentrations (2 and 20 mg/kg) of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the physical properties of natural materials (samples from the A horizon of loamy gray forest soil, river sand, and mantle loam). It was found that PCBs affect the aggregation of micro-and macroparticles in samples from the A horizon of gray forest soil and loam and the reflective properties of sand. It was also found that the coefficient of filtration in the substrates studied varies under the effect of PCBs. The rate of the water rising in the loam samples in the presence of PCBs decreases by 5.9 times for particles <3 mm and remains constant for particles <0.25 mm; in the samples from the A horizon of gray forest soil, the rate of the water rising increases by a factor of 1.3–1.9 for particles of all sizes. The water-retaining capacity of loam and gray forest soil from the A horizon decreases in the presence of PCBs.