)1il.lf SDMS DocID 463464 Biologiciil Rcporl'WC) July I'/X) Superfund Records Center SITE: PiV^ ^SrcgZt— BREAK: t>^>- OlliER: ML^M^M Evaluating Soil Contamination bv W. Nelson Bcvcr U.S. Department ofthe Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Washington, DC 20240 Preface This compilation is designed to help contaminant specialists evaluate environmental hazards from contaminants in soil and in similar materials, such as dredged material. This should be used with the contaminant index. Included in this compilation arc regulatory criteria, opinions, citations, brief descriptions of scientific articles, and miscellaneous information that might be useful in making risk assessments of soil contaminants. The material was compiled because little information is available to assist field personnel who must evaluate soil contamination at local sites. Many of the guidelines that have been developed arc not known outside specialized fields of regulation and cannot be found through a literature search. In contrast, many volumes have been published that review contaminants in general or contaminants in aquatic systems. My intent is to provide access to hard-to-obtain material that might be helpful in making sound decisions. Thus, this report includes information on what those in related fields consider hazardous, and includes cil;itions to articles that might be useful in making a risk assessment for wildlife. Many seemingly different environmental problems actually have much in common. For example, whether sediments are to be dredged and disposed of on land, sewage sludge is to be applied to farmland, or a hazardous waste site is to be cleaned up, all involve estimating contaminant concentrations that should be considered safe in each situation. Although the concentration considered safe iepends on the particular situation, risk assessments of different habitats are likely to share common lines of reasoning. Researchers disagree over how best to evaluate hazards from soil contaminants. Some researchers deny the value of using concentrations at all and prefer bioassays; others stress the inadequacy of the data available to derive guidelines and use background concentrations and their best judgment for selecting a \ aluc; yet others' swear by risk assessment. I made no attempt to judge the material presented or to endorse particular approaches. The choice is left entirely lo the reader. The descriptions included are brief. When describing limitations on applying sludge to land, for example, I included only information on the total cumulative amounts that may be applied to soil, since they seemed most relevant. Sludge regulations include a great deal more information, such as how and where sludge may be applied, limits on nitrogen, and so on. For each published reference only enough information is included lo indicate its relevance to the topic; all ofthe howevers, contrariwises, and admonitions about leaping io hasty conclusions are left out. If data arc to be cited, the reader should go to the original source to be sure that the intent of the author is understood. Some of the information included is from drafts. Unfortunately, many of the criteria did not have accompanying explanations of how they were derived, and this limits their application to other situations. Concentrations in soil should be assumed lobe expressed as dry weight, unless stated otherwise. Most ofthe regulations limiting the addition of environmental contaminants with sludge have been expressed as maximum kilograms per hectare, but they may still be helpful for evaluating concentrations; if we assume that contaminants are mixed into a plow layer (about 15 cm) that weighs 2,(X)0,(X)0 kg/ha, then 2 kg/ha of a contaminant would be equivalent to 1 ppm in that plow layer. The first 10 entries are from various countries and arc standards or recommended guidelines for evaluating contaminated soil. Entry 2, from the Netherlands, is particularly useful if the reader does not require that the criteria be supported with a risk assessment, because this entry includes most of the contaminants generally considered hazardous. Entry 10, from the Soviet Union, includes maximum allowable concentrations for even more chemicals, but regrettably, 1 did not learn anything about the reasoning behind their derivation. Six of the entries come from an unpublished report by G. Mark Richardson, entitled "Inventory of Cleanup Criteria and Methods to Select Criteria," prepared for the Committee on Industrial Site Decommissioning, Environment Canada, in March 1987. This is an excellent reference for evaluating hazardous waste sites. Federal, State, and European Economic Community guidelines limiting the maximum cumulative amounts of contaminants thai may be added to soil with sewage sludge are found in entries 11-23. These are followed by estimates of contaminants in sewage sludges (entries 24 and 25). Entry 26 provides estimates of elemental concentrations of surficial materials, and entries 27-29 list guidelines for evaluating contaminants in sediments. The rest ofthe entries are brief descriptions of published scientific articles that might be useful in making risk a.ssessments. Articles on the accumulation of contaminants by earthworms are emphasized, because earthworms are a natural bridge for contaminants between soil and many wildlife species. Many articles have been published on the accumulation of elements by earthworms, and several reviews are available; consequently, this topic was treated only briefly in entry 51. Entry 56 lists recommended references on earthworm biology. Other entries include citations to articles on the toxicity of metals in litter to woodlice (entry 58), human health hazards from soil lead and TCDD (entries59-61), and the ingestion of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) from soil by grazing animals (entry 62). I thank T. J. Milkr and D. Schultz for their reviews, and T. Kubiak for sending much useful material. Contents Page Preface iii Contaminant Index v Abstract 1 Soil Contamination Criteria 1 Japan 1 Netherlands 1 Canada 3 United States 5 Soviet Union 6 Sewage Sludge 8 Guidelines for Limiting Additions i.>f Contaminants 8 Sewage Sludge Analyses . 14 Elemental Concentrations in Surficial Materials 15 Sediment Guidelines 16 Selected Citations on Earthworms 18 Contaminants in Earthworms 18 Elements in Earthworms 22 General Earthworm Biology 24 Additional Literature 25 Metal Toxicity in Soil Litter 25 Human Health Hazards 25 PCB Ingestion by Grazing Animals 25 Contaminant Index Contaminant Entrv number Abate 10 Acetaldehyde 10 Aldicarb 49 Aldrin 24,28,36,39,54 Aluminum 18,26 Amiben 10 Ammonia 27 Anthanlhrene 42 Anthracene 2,42 Antimony 10.14 Arsenic 1,2,5,9,10,14,18,24-25,27-29 Atrazinc 10 Barium 2,9,26-28 Basudin -.0 Bay 92114 • ;9 Bayer 37289 52 Bcnzanthracene 7,24,42 Benzene 2,3,8,10,24 BenzoHuoranthene 24,42 BcnzoHuorene 42 Benzoperylene 42 • Benzophenanthrcne 7 Benzojayrene 2,3,10,24,42 Beryllium 9,18,24-26 bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate 3,24 Boron 25,26 Bromine 2 Bromophos 10 Bufencarb 49 Butylale 10 Bux 52 Cadmium 1,2,5,6,7,9,11,13-25,27-29,41,45, 46,51,56,58 Calcium 25,26 Carbaryl 10,44,52 Carbofuran 9,52 Carbon tetrachloride 24 Carbophos 10 Cerium 26 CGA 12223 49 Chloramp 10 Chlordane 24.25,28,36,49 Chloroacctamine 44 Chlorobenzene 2,24 2-Chloroethyl vinyl ether 44 Chloroform 24 Chlorophenol 2 Chlorophos 10 Chlorpyrifos 49 Chromium 2,5,6,9,10,14,18,21,24-29,56 Chrysene 3,7,24,42 Cobalt 2,6,18,26 Copper 1,2,5,6,9,10,13-29,31,41,45,56,58 Contaminant Entry number Cresols 3 Cumene 10 Cyanide 2,24,27 Cyanox 10 Cycloate 10 Cyclohexane 2 2,4-D 10 2,4-D, ammonium salt 10 Dacthal 10 Dalapon Sodium 10 Dasanit 49,52 DDT 10,24,28,30,32,33,35,36,52.54,55 Dcsmetryn 10 Diazinon 49 Dibenzanthr.iccne 7,42 Dibenzopyr';ne 7,42 Dicamba 10 3,3'-Dichlorobenzidine 24 1,2-Dichloroethane 24 2,4-Dichlorophenol 10 1,2 Dichloropropane 44 Dichlorvos 10 Dieldrin 24,28,32,33,36,38,39,48,53,54 Dihydrohcptachlor 10 Dimethoatc 10 Dimethylbenzanthraccne 7 3,6-Dimethylphenanthrenc 42 Dimethyl phthalate 44 Dinobuton 10 1,4-Dioxane 3 Dioxin 18,28,43,47,61 Disulfoton 49 Diuron 10 Dursban 52 Dyfonate 49 Endosulfon 10 Endrin 24,28,36,52 Eptam 10 Etaphos 10 Ethoprop 49 Ethylbenzene 2,8 Ethylene dibromide 3 Fenuron 10 Fluoranthene 2,42 Fluorene 44 Fluorine 2,18 Folpet 10 Formaldehyde 10 Gallium 26 Gardona 10 Gasoline 2 Glyphosate 10 Heptachlor 10,24,28,32,36,50 Herban 10 VI Contaminant Entrv number Hcterophos 10 Hexachlorobenzene 7,24 Hexachlorobutadiene 10,24 Hcxachlorocyclohcxanc 10 Indcnopyrcnc 7,42 Iron 25-27 Kclthane 10 Landrin 49 Lanthanum 26 ' Uad 1,2,4-7,9,10,12-29,31,41,45,56,58-60 Lenacil 10 Lindane 10,24,28,54 Linuron 10 Magnesium 25,26 Manganese 10,14,18,25-27 Mercury 1,2,5,9,10,21,23-25,27-29.55 Melathione 10 Methaphos 10 3-MethylchoIanthrene 42 Methylene chloride 24 Methyl ethyl ketone 3 Methomyl 49 Mineral oils 2 Molybdenum 2,5,7,18,26 Monolinuron 10 Monuron 10 Napththalene 2,3 Ncmacur 49 Ncodymium 26 Neptunium 26 Nickel 2,5,6,9,10,13-29,45,56 Nitrates 10 Nilrofor , 10 Nitrogen 5,10,25,29 4-Nilrophenol 44 n-Nitrosodiphcnylamine 24,44 Oil 5,8,9,28,29 Oxamyl 49 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's) 2,7,42 PCB's 2,11,16.18,24,25,27-29,34,40.42,62 Pcbulaie 10 Pentachlorophenol 24,37 Permcthrin 10 Pcrylene 42 Petroleum 5,8,9.28,29 Phenanthrene 2,3,24,42 Phcnazon 10 Phenols 2,24,44 Phcnthoate 10 Phorate 49 Phosalone 10,49 Phosphorus 25-27,29 Phosphorus pcntoxide 10 Phthalate 3,24,44 Contaminant Entrv number Phlhalophos 10, l'ick)ram 10 ririmicarb 10 Pirimiphos-nKlhyi 10 Polychlorinated bij-ihcnyls