With White Lab Laboratories, you can test any type of soil and sediment to carry out agronomic or preliminary evaluations for remediation activities in line with applicable regulations.
Specific testing is performed on excavated soils and rocks, backfill soil, demolition debris, substrates to cover landfills, marine and river sediments, etc.
Testing soils and sediments includes two main areas of intervention: agronomic evaluation and contaminant identification.
As regards testing agricultural land to develop fertilisation plans and to dispose of sludge in agriculture, White Lab offers a full consultancy, sampling and physical, chemical, microbiological testing service in compliance with applicable regulations.
The sludge coming from purification plants is real waste and it is therefore governed by Italian Legislative Decree No 152/06 and following amendments and additions. In addition, to use sludge in agriculture, it is necessary to operate within the parameters and limits set out in Italian Legislative Decree No 99/62 on ‘Agricultural soil intended for receiving sewage sludge’ and any relevant regional regulation.
Our offer also includes testing manures and fertilisers produced by the chemical industry or coming from biological treatment, composting and biogas production processes. Indeed, White Lab Laboratories have an Authorisation to test fertilisers in line with Italian Ministerial Decree of 27/04/2011 and are therefore included in the Italian Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policy’s national list of laboratories qualified to verify the compliance of fertilisers.
As regards testing sediments, that is a complex environmental matrix, as sediments include both materials coming from rocks and from human activities. There are several possible contamination sources. Some substances are present in water only in trace amounts and may generate bioaccumulation along the subsequent food chain.
Preliminary evaluations for remediation activities should also take into account inorganic compounds such as heavy metals and inorganic molecules like PCBs, dioxins, hydrocarbons and pesticides. In addition, the microbiological testing allows to identify and quantify pollutants coming from sewage and, in general, waste water (Italian Ministerial Decree No 46/2019).
In compliance with further industry regulations, specific testing must be carried out on excavated soils and rocks (Italian Presidential Decree, Regulation No 120/2017), backfill soils, demolition debris, substrates to cover landfills, marine and river sediments, material coming from core drilling and related leachates which must be subjected to leaching tests.
Thanks to its great experience in the industry, our team supports customers with the development of an appropriate testing strategy depending on the type of environmental matrix and the aim of the testing, ensuring the compliance with applicable regulations.
Find out the testing and services offered by White Lab
Services for soils and sediments:
Underground soil and water accredited sampling in line with UNICHIM Manual No 196/2:2004
Agronomic testing
Remediation soils
Ecotoxicological testing
Sediment testing
Soil characterisation
Drilled core testing
Testing excavated soils and rocks in construction sites in line with Italian Presidential Decree No 120/2017
Granulometric curves and soil geotechnical classification
Drilling fluids
Testing leachates (leaching test)
Testing manures and fertilisers
Testing sludge for agricultural disposal and soil improvers
Testing compost to use in agriculture
Testing interstitial soil gases
Consultancy
Training
Testing soils and sediments:
Chemical testing such as heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs, hydrocarbons (MADEP and TPHCWG speciation, PAH), pesticides, radioactivity, microelements, organotin compounds
Microbiological testing
Physical testing such as soil texture and geotechnical determinations according to UNI CEN ISO/TS 17892:
Water content (W)
Attemberg limits
Retained fraction at 0.4 mm
Liquid limit (wL)
Plastic limit (wP)
Plasticity index (PI)
Liquidity index (LI)
Consistency index (CI)
Relationship between water content and penetration of the conical tip
Density in the anhydrous and wet state
Mass of the granules (pycnometer)
Granulometric distribution and effective porosity
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Analysis and services
SERVICES
Asbestos and MMVFs
Identification, sampling and testing of asbestos and Man-Made Vitreous Fibres.
