Sorption of phenanthrene, naphthalene and o-xylene by soil organic matter fractions

• Published in: Geoderma Vol. 139; no. 3; pp. 329 - 335
• Main Authors: Chen, Diyun, Xing, Baoshan, Xie, Wenbiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15.05.2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Aliphatic carbons; Biological and medical sciences; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Organic compounds; Soil humin; Soil organic matter; Soils; Sorption; Surficial geology; Sorption; Soil organic matter; Aliphatic carbons; Soil humin; Organic compounds; components; naphthalene; Extract; Hydrophobicity; sorption; phenanthrene; xylene; carbon; mechanism; soils; Availability; processes; Aliphatic compound; isotherms; transport; humic acids; techniques; organic materials; Environment; Nonlinearity; organic compounds; Sorbent; sediments
• ISSN: 0016-7061; 1872-6259
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.02.011

Sorption of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) is an important process for determining their fate and transport in soils and sediments. Soil/Sediment organic matter (SOM) is believed to be the dominant sorbent but the mechanisms are not thoroughly understood. In this study, we examined the sorption of phenanthrene, naphthalene and o-xylene by a mineral soil, its base-extracted soil (BE), humic acid (HA), and deashed humin (DH) using a batch equilibration technique. All isotherms were nonlinear and nonlinearity increases in the order: soil HA < soil deashed humin < soil < BE. Aliphatic-rich deashed humin (DH) exhibited the highest sorption capacity for HOCs while mineral associated humin (BE) had the strongest nonlinearity. The results indicate that aliphatic components of SOM contribute greatly to sorption of HOCs in soils and sediments, which needs to be accounted for in determining the fate and availability of HOCs in the environment.