Increase in bioavailability of aged phenanthrene in soils by competitive displacement with pyrene

Journal Article · Sun Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999 · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1897/1551-5028(1999)018<1728:IIBOAP>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:20012727

White, J C; Hunter, M; Pignatello, J J; Alexander, M

Competitive sorption to natural solids among mixtures of organic compounds has been documented in the literature. This study was conducted to determine co-solute competitive effects on the biological and physical availability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils after long contact periods (aging). Sterile suspensions of Mount Pleasant silt loam (Mt. Pleasant, NY, USA) and Pahokee peat soils were spiked with phenanthrene and allowed to age for 3 or 123 d before inoculation with a phenanthrene-degrading bacterium in the presence or absence of the nonbiodegradable co-solute pyrene. As expected, mineralization decreased with aging in the samples not amended with pyrene. However, addition of pyrene just prior to inoculation at 123 d significantly mitigated this decrease; that is, the extent of mineralization was greater in the 123-d pyrene-amended samples than in the 123-d nonamended samples. Parallel experiments on sterile soils showed that pyrene increased the physical availability of phenanthrene by competitive displacement of phenanthrene from sorption sites. First, the addition of pyrene increased recovery of 123-d-aged phenanthrene by mild solvent extraction. Second, addition of pyrene (at three concentrations) dramatically reduced the apparent distribution coefficient (K{sub d}{sup app}) of several concentrations of 60-, 95-, and 111-d-aged phenanthrene. At the lowest phenanthrene and highest pyrene concentrations, reductions in the K{sub d}{sup app} of phenanthrene in the peat soil reached 83%. The competitive displacement effect observed in this study adds further support to the dual mode model of sorption to soil organic matter. The displacement of an aged contaminant by a nonaged co-solute might also prove useful in the development of novel remediation strategies.

• Research Organization: Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; US Department of Agriculture; Environmental Protection Agency; National Science Foundation; US Department of Energy
• OSTI ID: 20012727
• Journal Information: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Journal Name: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 18; ISSN ETOCDK; ISSN 0730-7268
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
BIODEGRADATION
BIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY
COMPETITION
DESORPTION
HUMIC ACIDS
ORGANIC MATTER
PHENANTHRENE
PYRENE
REMEDIAL ACTION
SOILS