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A rapid experimental protocol to determine the desorption resistant fraction of sediment-sorbed hydrophobic organic contaminants

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Abstract

Desorption of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) from sedimentary materials plays a vital role in dictating the fate and transport of HOCs in the environment. Desorption irreversibility is a commonly observed phenomenon in laboratory sorption/desorption studies of HOCs. A desorption-resistant fraction (DRF) typically exists during the desorption process. To correctly evaluate the DRF of HOCs can considerably contribute to the understanding of availability and bioavailability of HOCs. This can substantially benefit contaminant remediation and cleanup operations. Conventional batch method to measure the DRF replies on repetitive washing of the sediments, which is time-consuming and can be impractical. This study presents an experimental protocol to quantify the DRF of the sediment-sorbed organic contaminants in a rapid manner. This protocol utilizes cosolvent to expedite desorption kinetics and adopts an ultrafiltration/centrifugation combined method to achieve a complete separation of sediment and solution phases. This proposed experimental protocol can facilitate the quantification of the DRF of sorbed contaminants to understand and minimize the uncertainties associated with risk-based pollution remediation approach. This protocol has the potential to be widely used in environmental studies to characterize sorption and desorption properties of HOCs with soil and sedimentary materials.

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Abbreviations

C :

solution-phase contaminant concentration (μg mL−1)

C s :

solution-phase contaminant concentration after each desorption step (μg mL−1)

C sat :

contaminant aqueous solubility (μg mL−1)

f :

fraction of \( {q}_{\mathrm{resistant}}^{\mathrm{max}} \) that is filled during sorption

f oc :

organic carbon content

F Rs :

solubility enhancement factor

K oc :

organic carbon normalized partitioning coefficient

K ow :

octanol/water partitioning coefficient

\( {K}_{\mathrm{OC}}^{\mathrm{reversible}} \) :

organic carbon normalized partitioning coefficient of the reversible fraction (mL g−1)

\( {K}_{\mathrm{oc}}^{\mathrm{resistant}} \) :

organic carbon normalized partitioning coefficient of the resistant fraction (mL g−1)

M :

mass of sediment used in the desorption in the recommended experimental approach (g)

q :

sediment-phase contaminant concentration (μg g−1)

q 0 :

sediment-phase contaminant concentration at the beginning of desorption experiment (μg g−1)

q′:

sediment-phase contaminant concentration at the end of the desorption experiment measured by sediment Soxhlet extraction (μg g−1)

q initial :

initial sediment-phase contaminant concentration (μg g−1)

\( {q}_{\mathrm{resistant}}^{\mathrm{max}} \) :

maximum capacity of desorption resistant fraction (μg g−1)

q resistant :

desorption resistant fraction (μg g−1)

q re − adsorb :

re-adsorbed contaminant amount (μg g−1)

q reversible :

desorption reversible fraction (μg g−1)

γ w :

activity coefficient of solute in water

γ MS :

activity coefficient of solute in mixed solvent

V :

mixed solvent volume removed in the recommended experimental approach (mL)

V W :

molar volume of water

V MS :

molar volumes of mixed solvent

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Funding

The authors appreciate the sponsorship of Science and Technology Development Fund, Macao S.A.R (FDCT) (0063/2018/A2) and Start-Up Research Grant provided by the University of Macau (SRG2018-00112-FST). This work was also financially supported by Brine Chemistry Consortium companies of Rice University, including Aegis, Apache, BHGE, BWA, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Coastal Chemical, EOG Resources, ExxonMobil, Flotek Industries, Halliburton, Hess, Italmatch, JACAM, Kemira, Kinder Morgan, Nalco, Oasis, Occidental Oil and Gas, Range Resources, RSI, Saudi Aramco, Schlumberger, Shell, SNF, Statoil, Suez, Total, and the NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (ERC-1449500).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China

    Ping Zhang & Siyuan Huang

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

    Amy T. Kan & Mason B. Tomson

  3. Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

    Amy T. Kan & Mason B. Tomson

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  1. Ping Zhang
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  2. Siyuan Huang
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  3. Amy T. Kan
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  4. Mason B. Tomson
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Correspondence to Ping Zhang.

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Zhang, P., Huang, S., Kan, A.T. et al. A rapid experimental protocol to determine the desorption resistant fraction of sediment-sorbed hydrophobic organic contaminants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 1449–1460 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06521-z

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