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Virus Adsorption by Five Soils¹

ABSTRACT

Four of five soils studied adsorbed the bacteriophage X-174 in accordance with the Freundlich isotherm. The soil not adsorbing viruses was the coarsest textured and had the highest pH. For purposes of comparing rates in kinetic studies, this soil was considered to have a zero adsorption rate. The amount of virus adsorbed was linearly related to the square root of time. When adsorption rates for the soils were plotted against cation exchange capacities, specific surface areas, and organic matter contents, fair correlation was found for four of the soils. The lack of correlation for the one soil may have been due to its high organic matter content blocking virus adsorption. The rates of adsorption determined from square root of time plots were significantly correlated with soil pH at the 1% level (r = –0.94), indicating the importance of the influence of pH on virus charge.

Key Words: X-174 • Freundlich isotherm • adsorption kinetics • soil characteristics

¹ Contribution from the Agric. Environ. Qual. Inst., ARS-USDA, Beltsville, MD 20705.

² Soil Scientist and Microbiologist, respectively.

Received for publication February 11, 1977.