The waste spent mushroom compost (SMC) consisting predominantly of mushroom-degraded corn
straw was obtained from a mushroom cultivation farm in Hebei province, China. Osmocote (Os) (14-13-
13) was purchased from The Scotts Company (USA). Some properties of Os are given as fallows (data
supplied by the vendors). The contents of total nitrogen, soluble phosphoric acid anhydride and soluble
potassium are 14%, 13% and 13% respectively. Phenanthrene and anthracene standard were purchased
from Sigma-Aldrich Company.