Abstract
In this paper, a new data set of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran (PCDD/Fs) half-lives (HLs) in soil is presented. Data are derived from a greenhouse experiment performed with an aged contaminated soil under semi-field conditions, obtained from a National Relevance Site (SIN) located in Northern Italy (SIN Brescia-Caffaro). Ten different treatments (combination of seven plant species with different soil conditions) were considered together with the respective controls (soil without plants). The ability of the plants to stimulate the biodegradation of these compounds was evaluated by measuring the PCDD/F concentration reduction in soil over a period of 18 months. The formation of new bound residues was excluded by using roots as a passive sampler of bioaccessible concentrations. The best treatment which significantly reduced PCDD/F concentrations in soil was the one with Festuca arundinacea (about 11-24% reduction, depending on the congener). These decreases reflected in HLs ranging from 2.5 to 5.8 years. Simulations performed with a dynamic air-vegetation-soil model (SoilPlusVeg) confirmed that these HLs were substantially due to biodegradation rather than other loss processes. Because no coherent PCDD/F degradation HL data sets are currently available for soil, they could substantially improve the predictions of soil remediation time, long-range transport, and food chain transfer of these chemicals using multimedia fate models.