Laboratory investigations of leaching of PCB congeners from sludge-soil mixtures

The aqueous leachability of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) from sludge-soil mixtures before and after light weeks of biotreatment in land treatment units was evaluated via long-duration laboratory column tests. Results from the column tests were used to assess the dissolution and transport of PCB congeners from the untreated and biotreated materials. A one-dimensional advection-dispersion model including a dissolution mass transfer model were used to describe PCB release from contaminated sludges or soils.