ABSTRACT
The fate and behavior of organic pollutants in soils are determined by many different factors, including soil characteristics and chemical properties (Mottes et al. 2013). If the bioavailable fraction of pesticide is reduced, so are the risks of crop contamination and human and ecosystem exposure. A key to managing contaminated sites could thus be reducing pesticide bioavailability in the soil. Bioavailability is related to the intrinsic physical-chemical properties of pollutants. Water solubility is one key parameter along with the formation of bound residues, which is more extensive in case of hydrophobic pollutants (Semple et al. 2001). The porous structure of the matrix with which pollutants are associated may also inuence the bioavailability of pollutants (Chung and Alexander 2002, Peters et al. 2007, Woignier et al. 2012). As soil organic matter plays the most important role in the sorption and bioavailability of persistent organic pollutants (Pignatello 1998, Vlčková and Hofman 2012), the use of compost may reduce the risk of contamination by reducing the bioavailable fraction through increased adsorption.
