Abstract:
Worldwide and including in South Africa, the use of
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been banned as these have
been implicated in the destruction of the ozone layer. The lack of the
protective ozone layer has been widely blamed for increase in global
warming. Here we report on impact of PCBs from a human
vandalized electrical transformer on the soil environment at the
Rietvlei farm in Louis Trichardt. The particle analysis showed that
the soil was sandy followed by loam and then clay. The soil pH was
in the range 6.79 to 10.15. The soil moisture content was on average
below 6.8%. The analysis of Mg, Al, Ca and K for Cation Exchange
Capacity (CEC) was carried out to determine the fertility of the soil.
The average CEC of the soil sample was 7.48 meq/g and therefore
the soil was fertile and but lacked organic nutrients. However at this
site where the transformer oil was spilled it was observed that no
grass was growing. The analysis of samples by the GC-MS and GCECD
at Waterlab and SABS showed that there were ultra-traces of
PCBs in the soil samples. Probably the absence of grass growing at
the contaminated site was due to presence of the ultra-trace levels of
PCBs. Thus there is a need to improve plant growth at the
contaminated site in order to prevent easy water infiltration that
might contaminate groundwater supplies. Makhado local
municipality draws some of its water supplies from borehole just 1
m from the contaminated site.
