LAUSR

Soil leachates from di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate-contaminated soil to groundwater could potentially cause toxicity, depending on the physical and chemical properties of the soil, and modifications in the phthalate, thus affecting health in nearby human populations. For this reason, the following study was accomplished, evaluating the effectiveness of soil remediation based on the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure-like leachates from treated soil. Since there are not any environmental regulations for this emerging contaminant in country, simply reducing the DEHP concentration in soil or leachates was not sufficient for regulatory purposes to assure regulators of remediation success. As an alternative, acute toxicity was used as the cleanup criterion. This was done using the filter paper test of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Protocol No. 207 with earthworms, which was applicable, since the country in which the study was done is a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and accepts its test protocols. In contaminated soil leachates, the earthworms exhibited a ruptured body wall with bloody wounds and expulsion of coelomic fluid, and those surviving worms showed a reduction in movement with practically null response to stimulus. Contaminated soil treated by chemical oxidation with 2.5% of hydrogen peroxide showed the greatest toxicity reduction, up to 94%, demonstrating the technical feasibility of this treatment method. The soil treated by bioremediation (simulation of landfarm operation) was also effective after five months of treatment, showing no significant difference with the negative control (uncontaminated soil).