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Partitioning of the pesticide trifluralin between dissolved organic matter and water using automated SPME-GC/MS

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 22, pages 4201–4212 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was used to determine the equilibrium association constant for a pesticide, trifluralin (TFR), with dissolved organic matter (DOM). After optimization of the SPME method for the analysis of TFR, partition coefficients (K DOM) with three different sources of DOM were determined in buffered solutions at pH 7. Commercial humic acids and DOM fractions isolated from two surface waters were used. The values of log K DOM varied from 4.3 to 5.8, depending on the nature of the organic material. A good correlation was established between log K DOM and DOM properties (as measured with the H/O atomic ratio and UV absorbance), in agreement with literature data. This is consistent with the effect of polarity and aromaticity for governing DOM-pollutant associations, regardless of the origin of DOM. This association phenomenon is relevant to better understand the behavior of pesticides in the environment since it controls part of pesticide leaching and fate in aquatic systems.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique for the financial support of part of this study in the frame of the program EC2CO—Cytrix. Emilie Caupos thanks the Region Poitou-Charentes and CNRS for providing her the financial support of her PhD thesis. The authors are very grateful to Dr. Le Roux for his comments on the manuscript and to C. Lorgeoux for her expertise on statistical validation of analytical methods.

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Author notes

  1. Emilie Caupos

    Present address: Université Paris-Est, Leesu (UMR-MA-102), UPEC, ENPC, AgroParisTech, Créteil, 94010, Paris, France

  2. Jean-Philippe Croue

    Present address: Water Desalination and Reuse Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

Affiliations

  1. Université de Poitiers, CNRS–UMR 6008, Laboratoire de Chimie et Microbiologie de l’Eau, ENSIP, 86022, Poitiers, France

    Emilie Caupos, Arnaud Touffet & Jean-Philippe Croue

  2. Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, UMR 5805, EPOC-Laboratoire de Physico et Toxico Chimie de l’Environnement, Talence, 33405, Bordeaux, France

    Patrick Mazellier

Authors
  1. Emilie Caupos
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  2. Arnaud Touffet
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  3. Patrick Mazellier
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  4. Jean-Philippe Croue
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Correspondence to Patrick Mazellier.

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Caupos, E., Touffet, A., Mazellier, P. et al. Partitioning of the pesticide trifluralin between dissolved organic matter and water using automated SPME-GC/MS. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 4201–4212 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3614-0

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Keywords

  • Trifluralin
  • Dissolved organic matter
  • K DOM partition coefficient
  • SPME