Soil Pollution: Dr. M. Prabhu Inbaraj

Soil Pollution
By
Dr. M. PRABHU INBARAJ
Soil
• Formation of soil from the parent material
(bedrock): mechanical weathering of rocks by
temperature changes, abrasion, wind, moving
water, glaciers, chemical weathering activities and
lichens.
• Under ideal climatic conditions, soft parent
material may develop into 1 cm of soil within 15
years.
• O-horizon: freshly-fallen & partially-
decomposed leaves, twigs, animal
waste, fungi & organic materials.
Colour: brown or black.
• A-horizon: humus/partially
decomposed organic matter & some
inorganic mineral particles. darker &
looser than the deeper layers.
• O & A-horizon: contain a large
amount of bacteria, fungi, earthworms,
small insects, forms complex food web
in soil, recycles soil nutrients, &
contribute to soil fertility.
• B-horizon /(subsoil): less organic
material & fewer organisms than A-
horizon.
• C-horizon: consists of broken-up
bedrock, does not contain any organic
materials. Chemical composition helps
to determine pH of soil & also
influences soil’s rate of water
absorption & retention.
• R-horizon: The unweathered rock
(bedrock) layer that is beneath all the
other layers
Soil Pollution
Soil pollution is caused by the presence of chemicals or other
alteration in the natural soil environment.
Resulting in a change of the soil quality
likely to affect the normal use of the soil or endangering public

health and the living environment.
CAUSES OF SOIL DEGRADATION
• Soil erosion/degradation is the loss of top soil

erodes fertility of soil & reduces its water-holding
capacity.
• Excessive farming,
: construction, overgrazing,
burning of grass cover and deforestation
• Excess salts and water (Salinization)
• Excessive use of fertilizers & pesticides
• Solid waste
First effect of pollutants
• Washed away: might accumulates somewhere
• Evaporate: can be a source of air pollution
• Infiltrate through the unsaturated soil to the groundwater
• DDT: fat soluble, stored in fatty tissues
– Interferes with calcium metabolism
– Results in thin egg shells in birds
• Agent orange: code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants (results
in leaf fall) used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare
program, During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the United
States military sprayed 20,000,000 US gallons (80,000,000 L) of chemical
herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam
– anti fertility, skin problems, cancer
Control of soil pollution
• Use of pesticides and fertilizers should be minimized.
• Cropping techniques should be improved to prevent
growth of weeds.
• Special pits should be selected for dumping wastes.
• Controlled grazing and forest management.
• Wind breaks and wind shield in areas exposed to wind
erosion
• Afforestation and reforestation.
• 3 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle

7
Information needed to clean up materials added to soil
Kind of material-organic or inorganic- is the material
biodegradable/ dangerous to animals & humans
 How much material was added to the soil, will it overload
the organisms in the soil
C:N ratio of the pollutant material
Nature of soil: will the soil be able to handle the material
before groundwater is contaminated
Growing conditions for the soil organisms: - is it too cold,
too wet etc.
How long the material has been on site: is there evidence
of environmental problems, is it undergoing decomposition.
Immediate danger to people & environment: Urgency of
the situation.
Bioremediation
• The use of naturally occuring microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi &
plants to break down or degrade toxic chemical compounds that have
accumulated in the environment
• It is a method that treats the soils and renders them non-hazardous, thus
eliminating any future liability that may result from landfill problems or
violations.
Factors affecting bioremediation
• Absence of competitive organisms, and absence of
toxicity
• Temperature favorable for organisms
• Availability of water (Moisture content)
• Availability of nutrients (N,P,K)
• C:N (carbon:nitrogen) ratio of the contaminant
material< 30:1
• pH
• Availability of Oxygen in sufficient quantity in soil.
• In-situ Bioremediation: The treatment in
place without excavation of
contaminated soils or sediments.
• Ex-situ bioremediation: requires
pumping of the groundwater or
excavation of contaminated soil prior to
remediation treatments.
In situ Bioremediation
• Intrinsic bioremediation (Natural Attenuation): uses microorganisms already
present in the environment (indigenous) to biodegrade harmful contaminant.
• Accelerated bioremediation (Biostimualtion): either substrate or nutrients
are added to the environment to help break down the toxic spill by making
the microorganisms grow more rapidly. Usually the microorganisms are
indigenous, but occasionally microorganisms that are very efficient at
degrading a certain contaminant are additionally added.
• Bioventing: supplying air and nutrients through wells to contaminated soil
to stimulate the indigenous bacteria.
• Biosparging: involves the injection of air under pressure below the water
table to increase groundwater oxygen concentrations and enhance the rate
of biological degradation of contaminants by naturally occurring bacteria.
• Bioaugmentation: Involves practice of adding specialized microbes or their
enzyme preparation to polluted sites to accumulate, transformation or
stabilization of specific pollutants.
In-situ-Bioremediation
Good for large volumes Less expensive
Slower • Creates less dust
Doesn’t work well in clays or • Less possibility of contaminant
highly layered subsurfaces release into environment
• Biostimulation (stimulates
biological activity)
– Bioventing (Inject
air/nutrients into
unsaturated zone –
good for midweight
petroleum, jet fuel)
– Biosparging (Inject
air/nutrients into
unsaturated and
saturated zones)
• Bioaugmentation (inoculates soil
with microbes)
Biostimulation
Biosparging
Ex-situ Bioremediation
• Slurry-phase: Soil combined with water/additives in tank,
microorganisms, nutrients, oxygen added
• Solid-phase
– Land-farming: soil put on pad, leachate collected
– Soil biopiles: soil heaped, air added
– Composting: biodegradable waste mixed with bulking agent
– Land Applied –waste added directly to soil which is later planted to a

crop. • Easier to control
• Used to treat wider range of contaminants
and soil types
• Costly and Faster
Advantages of Using Bioremediation Processes Compared With Other
Remediation Technologies
(1) biologically-based remediation detoxifies hazardous
substances instead of merely transferring contaminants from
one environmental medium to another;
(2) bioremediation is generally less disruptive to the
environment than excavation-based processes; and
(3) The cost of treating a hazardous waste site using
bioremediation technologies can be considerably lower than
that for conventional treatment methods: vacuuming,
absorbing, burning, dispersing, or moving the material.
THANK YOU

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Soil Pollution

Resulting in a change of the soil quality

likely to affect the normal use of the soil or endangering public

• Soil erosion/degradation is the loss of top soil

• 3 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle

– Land-farming: soil put on pad, leachate collected

– Soil biopiles: soil heaped, air added

– Composting: biodegradable waste mixed with bulking agent

– Land Applied –waste added directly to soil which is later planted to a

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