Abstract
Following the OECD Test Guideline No. 106 in the present study, several methods for soil preparation like sieving and homogenization were tested with respect to the resulting sorption capacity. The study was carried out with three different soils, an agricultural podzol, a forest podzol and a parabrown earth. Different sterilization methods were analysed as to their influence on sorption properties of the soil and inhibition of biodegradation. The results show that using a uniform mixture by recombination of sieving subfractions and autoclavation for the respective sterilization are the methods of choice.