Assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) migration from creosote-treated Douglas-fir and southern pine posts over a 38-month period
Keywords:
Wood Preservative, Soil, Ground ContactAbstract
Creosote is a widely used industrial wood preservative largely used for infrastructure-related applications such as utility poles, railway ties, and marine pilings. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the predominant component, and some PAHs in creosote have been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as priority pollutants. While research on PAHs found in aquatic environments is widespread, studies on terrestrial PAH migration from creosote-treated wood commodities are less common. This study sought to quantify the extent (quantity, distance, and depth in soil column) of PAH migration from creosote-treated wood in ground contact by measuring the concentration of 16 EPA-regulated PAHs in soil around creosote-treated Douglas-fir and southern pine posts over a 38-month period. The concentrations of PAHs were highly variable from chemical to chemical and timepoint to timepoint, but a few trends were discernible. Where differences were apparent between the two wood species, soils around southern pine posts tended to have higher PAH concentration than soils around Douglas-fir posts, likely due to the differences in chemical retention in the outer 25 mm of the wood, at 143 kg/m3 and 52 kg/m3, respectively. Lighter PAHs, particularly naphthalene and acenaphthene, were often found in controls. This indicates that some of the lighter PAHs likely originated from a combination of environmental inputs such as wildfire smoke and vehicle emissions in addition to creosote. Distance from the post surface also played a role in determining PAH concentration for several PAHs. Several higher molecular weight PAHs (fluoranthene, pyrene, benz [a] anthracene, chrysene, benzo [a] pyrene and others) were more frequently identified in samples taken 15 cm from the post than in samples taken 30 cm from the posts in the later sampling times. This field study is ongoing and will continue to examine PAH migration from creosote-treated commodities.
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