Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can form nonextractable residues in soil, significantly impacting their environmental behavior and fate. Although considerable research has been conducted on the formation of nonextractable residues of PAHs in soil through spiked experiments using representative PAH compounds, limited research has been given to the nonextractable residues of 16 priority PAHs in historically polluted soils. This study aimed to investigate the concentrations and compositions of the nonextractable residues for parent PAHs in five historically polluted soils and their biodegradation in three soils. The results indicated that the average contents of total nonextractable residues ranged from 183–2922 μg∙kg−1 in the five soils, with 4-ring PAHs (42.1 ± 4.2%) being the predominant component in the PAH compositions. The ratios of nonextractable residues for total PAHs ranged from 4.0% to 39.4% among the five soils, showing significant positive correlations with soil specific surface area, micropore area and volume, as well as clay content (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the mean ratios of the nonextractable residues for PAHs with different ring numbers generally decreased as the ring numbers increased. The average biodegradation rates of nonextractable residues for total PAHs ranged from 4.1% to 60.8% during a 30-day incubation period in the three soils, with the organic carbon and calcium contents identified as the key factors influencing the biodegradation among the three soils. This study highlights the significant impact of soil and PAH properties on the formation and biodegradation of nonextractable residues in historically polluted soils.
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The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information files. Should any raw data files be needed in another format they are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42077130) and the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (2020J01189 and 2020J01140).
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Ran Wei, Weifeng Chen and Jinzhi Ni designed the research. Meiyu Yang, Cheng Yao, and Liuming Yang performed the research. Ran Wei and Jinzhi Ni analyzed the data and wrote the paper.
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Wei, R., Yang, M., Yao, C. et al. Characteristics and Biodegradation of Nonextractable Residues of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Historically Polluted Soils. Water Air Soil Pollut 235, 300 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-024-07115-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-024-07115-3