Polychlorinated biphenyls in compost amended soil of a landfill site

The soil receives enormous quantities of pesticides and PCBs as a waste product each year due to their wide application. The degradation and eventual fate of these chemicals in the soil largely determine ultimate environmental impact. A survey of an abandoned landfill site has been conducted in a fast developing industrial city Nagpur (India) to assess the degree of environmental contamination with PCBs. The purpose was to determine if any of the mixture of PCBs, Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260 are retained in the compost amended soil of the site despite atmospheric losses possible due the peak summer (100-117 degrees F) in the city. The accuracy and precision for Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260 determinations in the soil samples have been calculated as 76.5 and +/- 0.92 and 83.3 and +/- 1.13 respectively. The samples analysis showed the presence of Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260 up to the levels of 0.55 and 0.80 mg/g respectively. The maximum total PCBs on dry weight basis are found as 1.2 mg/g.