EFFECT OF ACTIVATED CARBON OR BIOCHARS ON TOXICITY OF DIFFERENT SOILS CONTAMINATED BY MIXTURE OF NATIVE POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS AND HEAVY METALS

Activated carbon (AC), biochar from wheat straw (BCS), and biochar from willow (BCW) were added to the soils sampled from areas of strong anthropogenic influence at doses of 0.5%, 1%, 2.5%, or 5% (w/w) and incubated for 2mo. At the end of this period, the toxicity of the soils was measured. The effect of AC and biochars on the toxicity of the soils varied based on soil, type of amendment, dose, and test organism. For most of the parameters tested, the highest effectiveness of AC in terms of reduction of toxicity was observed in soil POPI (from bitumen processing plant area). In the case of the remaining soils, after the addition of AC varied results were observed, in which a reduction or an increase of toxicity, relative to the control soil, occurred. As in the case of AC, biochars also caused a significant reduction of phytotoxicity of soil POPI. In soils KB (from coking plant area, industrial waste deposit) and KOK (from coking plant area, coking battery), the reduction or increase of toxicity depended on biochar dose. Compared with the biochars, the effectiveness of AC in the reduction of toxicity depended also on soil, type of amendment, dose, and test organism. Generally, the AC was more effective than biochars in relation to mortality and reproduction of Folsomia candida (in all soils) and for reduction of luminescence inhibition of Vibrio fischeri (in POPI soil). (C) 2015 SETAC