Turbidity and bioavailability as test-parameters for soil eluates to be used for the assessment of soil quality

The assessment of groundwater pollution by contaminated or remediated soils is mainly based on chemical analysis of selected pollutants in soil extracts or eluates. These routine analyses are often restricted to the quantification of the expected main contaminants. However, soils from contaminated sites may be polluted by a large variety of substances of different hazard potential. Therefore chemical analysis should be complemented by ecotoxicological tests quantifying detecting the (eco)toxicological potential in soil eluates. Proposed test methods for the preparation of soil eluates had to be modified to include aquatic tests in testing strategies.