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The transport and retention of Escherichia coli and bacteriophages (PRD1, MS2 and ФX174), as surrogates for human pathogenic bacteria and viruses, respectively, were studied in the sand that was amended with several types of biochar produced from various feedstocks. Batch and column studies were conducted to distinguish between the role of attachment and straining in microbe retention during transport. Batch experiments conducted at various solution chemistries showed negligible attachment of viruses and bacteria to biochar before or after chemical activation. At any given solution ionic strength, the attachment of viruses to sand was significantly higher than that of biochar, whereas bacteria showed no attachment to either sand or biochar. Consistent with batch results, biochar addition (10% w/w) to sand reduced virus retention in the column experiments, suggesting a potential negative impact of biochar application to soil on virus removal. In contrast, the retention of bacteria was enhanced in biochar-amended sand columns. However, elimination of the fine fraction (<60μm) of biochar particles in biochar-amended sand columns significantly reduced bacteria retention. Results from batch and column experiments suggest that land application of biochar may only play a role in microbe retention via straining, by alteration of pore size distribution, and not via attachment. Consequently, the particle size distribution of biochar and sediments is a more important factor than type of biochar in determining whether land application of biochar enhances or diminishes microbial retention., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Biochar is produced by thermal decomposition of biomass under oxygen-limited conditions (pyrolysis), and it has received attention in soil remediation and waste disposal in recent years. The characteristics of biochar are influenced mainly by the preparation temperature and biomass. Higher pyrolysis temperature often results in the increased surface area and carbonized fraction of biochar leading to high sorption capability for pollutants. Biochars derived from various source materials show different properties of surface area, porosity and the amount of functional groups which are important concerning on the effect of biochar. Biochar has been proved to be effective in improving soil properties and increasing crop biomass. It has also been suggested that it can even enhance crop resistance to disease. Biochar has recently been used to remediate soil with both heavy metal and organic pollutants. The mechanism is electrostatic interaction and precipitation in the case of heavy metal, and the surface adsorption, partition and sequestration in the case of organic contaminants. However, application of biochar in soil has been shown to result in decreased efficacy of pesticides, which indicates a trade-off between the potentially promising effect of biochar on pesticide remediation and its negative effect on pesticide efficacy. While arguments on the effectiveness of biochar appear sound, further research is needed prior to widespread application of biochar in soil remediation., (Copyright © 2013 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We evaluated wheat straw biochar produced at 450°C for its ability to influence bioavailability and persistence of two commonly used herbicides (atrazine and trifluralin) with different modes of action (photosynthesis versus root tip mitosis inhibitors) in two contrasting soils. The biochar was added to soils at 0%, 0.5% and 1.0% (w/w) and the herbicides were applied to those soil-biochar mixes at nil, half, full, two times, and four times, the recommended dosage (H(4)). Annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) was grown in biochar amended soils for 1 month. Biochar had a positive impact on ryegrass survival rate and above-ground biomass at most of the application rates, and particularly at H(4). Within any given biochar treatment, increasing herbicide application decreased the survival rate and fresh weight of above-ground biomass. Biomass production across the biochar treatment gradient significantly differed (p<0.01) and was more pronounced in the case of atrazine than trifluralin. For example, the dose-response analysis showed that in the presence of 1% biochar in soil, the value of GR(50) (i.e. the dose required to reduce weed biomass by 50%) for atrazine increased by 3.5 times, whereas it increased only by a factor of 1.6 in the case of trifluralin. The combination of the chemical properties and the mode of action governed the extent of biochar-induced reduction in bioavailability of herbicides. The greater biomass of ryegrass in the soil containing the highest biochar (despite having the highest herbicide residues) demonstrates decreased bioavailability of the chemicals caused by the wheat straw biochar. This work clearly demonstrates decreased efficacy of herbicides in biochar amended soils. The role played by herbicide chemistry and mode of action will have major implications in choosing the appropriate application rates for biochar amended soils., (Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Although the chemical composition of soil organic matter (SOM) is known to significantly influence sorption of pesticides and other pollutants, it has been difficult to determine the molecular nature of SOM in situ. Here, using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data and elemental composition in a molecular mixing model, we estimated the molecular components of SOM in 24 soils from various agro-ecological regions. Substantial variations were revealed in the molecular nature of SOM. As a proportion of soil carbon the proportion of the carbonyl component ranged from 0.006 to 0.05, charcoal from 0 to 0.15, protein from 0.09 to 0.29, aliphatic from 0.14 to 0.30, carbohydrate from 0.21 to 0.31, and lignin from 0.05 to 0.42. The relationships between Koc (sorption per unit mass of organic carbon) of carbaryl (1-naphthyl methylcarbamate) and phosalone ( S-6-chloro-2,3-dihydro-2-oxobenzoxazol-3-ylmethyl O,O-diethyl phosphorodithioate) and the molecular nature of organic matter in the soils were significant. Of the molecular components estimated, lignin and charcoal contents correlated best with sorption of carbaryl and phosalone. Aliphatic, carbohydrate and protein contents were found to be negatively correlated with the Koc of both pesticides. The study highlights the importance of the molecular nature of SOM in determining sorption affinities of non-ionic pesticides and presents an indirect method for sorption estimation of pesticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]