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Re: Contaminated soil

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Hi Sarah,

Can you tell me where you ran into this info about chlordane carrying a
1/1000 cancer risk at .34 mg/kg?

A recent article in Biocycle found levels of chlordane in New Jersey
composts ranging from .29 mg/kg to 3.23 mg/kg, which they suggested all came
from the soil in people's yards that had been raked up with the leaves.

Chlordane was recommended during the 70s and early 80s as a general purpose
lawn insecticide and worm killer (!); it does not appear to be destroyed in
normal (thermophilic) composting but some specialists claim to be able to
break it down using mesophilic composting and special inoculants.

The same article in Biocycle found that 26 other pesticides were all
destroyed after 17 weeks of composting; more details are supposed to be
published in an article in Compost Science...

Thanks for your help,

Frank Teuton
-----Original Message-----
From: sarah oddo <sarahoddo@hotmail.com>
To: erica@jersey.net <erica@jersey.net>; sarahoddo@hotmail.com
<sarahoddo@hotmail.com>; CMBH71C@prodigy.com <CMBH71C@prodigy.com>;
sqft@listbot.com <sqft@listbot.com>
Date: Wednesday, March 31, 1999 7:47 PM
Subject: Contaminated soil


>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>You could sample the soil for chlordane.  On a RCRA human health
>screening table, concentrations of chlordane equal or greater than 0.34
>mg/kg are reported to have a carcinogenic risk of 1/1000.  I would not
>put a garden anywhere near the house because chlordane is particularly
>persistent in soils. It clings to root fibers and decreases soil
>fertility.  I would be particularly careful about root crops.  It is
>also easily absorbed through human skin and digestive tracts, so you
>wouldn't want to handle the soil with your bare hands.
>
>For petroleum contamination you would sample for BTEX (Benzene, Toluene,
>Ethylbenze, and Xylenes) for gasoline and oil, also total lead, and PAH
>(polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) for diesel fuel.  Your state will
>have varying maximum concentration levels for these contaminants, and
>the laboratory could probably tell you what they are.  Petroleum
>products are less persistent in soils than chlordane.  In many cases
>where it is a problem you can smell the gas or oil in the sample.
>
>If you buy property in industrial or commercial areas, you might want to
>have an Environmental Phase I Site Assessment performed before you buy
>the property.  Most lending institutions require these for commercial or
>industrial property.  The Phase I could tell you if any past practices
>at the site or on adjacent properties could have caused soil or water
>contamination.  However, soil samples are not included as part of the
>assessment.
>
>I don't know much about lawn pesticides, but you could also ask a local
>lab about that.
>
>I hope this is helpful information.
>
>Sarah
>
>>From: "Erica Cathers" <erica@jersey.net>
>>Reply-To: "Erica Cathers" <erica@jersey.net>
>>To: "sarah oddo" <sarahoddo@hotmail.com>,
><CMBH71C@prodigy.com>,<sqft@listbot.com>
>>Subject: Contaminated soil--was Lasagna Gardening
>>Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1999 17:10:17 -0500
>>
>>Do either of you who wrote about the lead contamination know much about
>other kinds?  For example, in the 60's or 70's, my parent's house was
>treated for termites. Back then, they used chlordane in a large ring
>directly in the soil around the house.  (I know it's awful stuff, but
>I'll tell you we hardly saw a bug of any kind in the house for years!)
>When my parents planted veggies, they knew the stuff was there and
>planted them way out in the yard, uphill so avoid ingesting it.  My
>inlaws house probably has petroleum products in the soil, as my
>father-in-law has been an auto mechanic for about 60 years.  Years back,
>it's just the way people did things.  Even now, you don't know what
>weird fertilizers or garden pesticides or herbicides a more recent
>previous owner might have used.  How do you as a new homeowner find out
>if the soil is safe?
>>
>>Erica
>>
>
>
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