Evaluation of pentachlorophenol leaching potential in natural soils

In industrialized countries, soil and groundwater contamination with pesticides continues to be a contemporary problem. In this framework, the investigation of soil ability to immobilize these contaminants is of major concern, as a prerequisite for environmental remediation. In our study, the importance of sorption and persistence of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in three categories of Romanian soils was evaluated by analyzing the leaching potential into groundwater based on Groundwater Ubiquity Score (GUS). The results showed that PCP has a very high leaching potential according to GUS index, which induces an important risk for groundwater contamination. The results show that leaching and migration potential is strongly correlated with the sorption capacity of soils, determined in a high degree by the physico-chemical properties of soil. For minimizing environmental and health risks and to prevent the groundwater pollution by organochlorine pesticides, such as PCP, it is recommended to implement a comprehensive environmental monitoring and management system; also the application of the appropriated remediation techniques are required.