The project’s objective was to develop assessment principles for the derivation of test and action values for soil-relevant pollutants and pollutant groups in the soil-plant pathway that are not yet included in the Federal Soil Protection and Contaminated Sites Ordinance (BBodSchV). The investigated substance groups mainly included perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), but also polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE).
In addition to an extensive literature review for both compound classes, for PFAS, pot experiments were carried out in a greenhouse with three different crops (spring wheat, soybean and ryegrass), three different soils as well as nine test substances at different exposure levels. Moreover, an extensive survey regarding PFAS-data in soils and plants was conducted at federal states level. The samples were analysed using modern and innovative environmental analytical methods, with substance-specific analyses supplemented by sum parameters. Finally, soil-plant transfer factors were determined for the tested variations.
The study revealed that soil-plant transfer depends on numerous influencing factors in and of the soil, the plants and the environment, which can be spatially and temporally variable and can have different relevance in different contamination scenarios. Therefore, the development of a reliable, uniformly applicable and practicable assessment concept for PFAS transfer in crops working in any situation is considered unlikely in the near future. Instead, the application of a pre-harvest monitoring is recommended, which has proven successful in Baden-Württemberg for dealing with contaminated arable crops. There is need for research especially in the area of non-extractable residues in soils and plants.
Publications:
Boeddinghaus, R. S.; Zoska, M.; Mechler, M.; Schultheiß, M.; Beiser, D.; Biegel-Engler, A.; Giese, E.; Heisel, W.; Kaiser, B.; Lesmeister, L.; Piepho, H.-P.; Scharinger, H.; Scheurer, M.; Söhlmann, R.; Stöhr, K.; Walter, E.; Breuer, J. : Uptake of PFAS from contaminated soils into plants – a real world study on the influence of soil properties and harvested crops, Vortrag auf der Jahrestagung der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft e. V. in Trier, 08.09.2022
Scheurer, M.; Lesmeister, L.; Breuer, J.; Boeddinghaus, R. S.; Schultheiß, M.; Mechler, M.; Dobslaw, D.; Engesser, K.-H.: Abschlussbericht – Erarbeitung von fachlichen Grundlagen für die Ableitung von Bewertungsmaßstäben für weitere bodenrelevante, bisher nicht in der BBodSchV enthaltenen Schadstoffe und Schadstoffgruppen in Böden (Schwerpunkt PFAS) im Wirkungspfad Boden-Pflanze (FLUORTRANSFER), Umweltbundesamt, TEXTE 77/2022
Link to final report (in German)
Boeddinghaus, R. S.; Zoska, M.; Mechler, M.; Schultheiß, M.; Beiser, D.; Biegel-Engler, A.; Giese, E.; Heisel, W.; Kaiser, B.; Lesmeister, L.; Piepho, H.-P.; Scharinger, H.; Scheurer, M.; Söhlmann, R.; Stöhr, K.; Walter, E.; Breuer, J. (2022): Real-world study on PFAS uptake from contaminated soils into crops and influences of soil properties, Vortrag auf der PFAS-Σ-IT Konferenz in Tübingen, 04.04.2022
Lesmeister, L.; Lange, F. T.; Breuer, J.; Biegel-Engler, A.; Giese, E.; Scheurer, M.: : Extending the knowledge about PFAS bioaccumulation factors for agricultural plants - A review. The Science of the total environment 766, 142640 (2021)
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142640.
Scheurer, M.; Lesmeister, L.; Breuer, J.; Schultheiß, M.: Transfer von per- und polyfluorierten Alkylsubstanzen (PFAS) von belasteten Böden in Pflanzen, Mitteilungen der Fachgruppe Umweltchemie und Ökotoxikologie 26 (2/2020)
Link to article (in German)
