This part of ISO/TS 21268 specifies a test providing information on leaching of soil and soil materials under the experimental conditions specified hereafter, and particularly at a liquid to solid ratio of 10 l/kg dry matter. It applies to soil and soil material with a particle size less than or equal to 4 mm.

This part of ISO/TS 21268 has been developed to measure the release of inorganic and organic constituents from soil and soil material and the ecotoxicological effects of eluates with respect to micro-organisms, fauna and flora. The test is not suitable for constituents that are volatile under ambient conditions. For ecotoxicological testing, see ISO 15799.

NOTE 1 Volatile organic constituents include the low-molecular-weight components in mixtures such as mineral oil.

NOTE 2 It is not always possible to optimise test conditions simultaneously for inorganic and organic constituents and optimum test conditions may also vary between different groups of organic constituents. Test requirements for organic constituents are generally more stringent than those for inorganic constituents. The test conditions suitable for measuring the release of organic constituents will generally also be applicable to inorganic constituents.

NOTE 3 For ecotoxicological testing, eluates representing the release of both inorganic and organic contaminants are needed. In this document, ecotoxicological testing is also meant to include genotoxicological testing.

The test procedure specified in this part of ISO/TS 21268 produces eluates, which are subsequently characterised by existing physical, chemical and ecotoxicological standard methods.