TY - JOUR
T1 - The use of coarse, separable, condensed-phase organic carbon particles to characterize desorption resistance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in contaminated sediments
AU - Chai, Yunzhou
AU - Kochetkov, Alexander
AU - Reible, Danny D.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2007/7
Y1 - 2007/7
N2 - Physical separations were employed to characterize the source of desorption-resistant behavior for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in laboratory- and field-contaminated sediments. Size and density separation of laboratory-contaminated sediments did not effectively separate the amorphous-phase (volatile) and condensed-phase (nonvolatile) organic carbon as measured by thermal oxidation at 375°C. These separations also did not result in sediment fractions with significantly different desorption characteristics as measured by apparent partition coefficients. Coarse particles from a field-contaminated sediment from Utica Harbor (UH; Utica, NY, USA), however, could be directly separated into sandy fractions and organic fractions that were composed of woody organic matter, charcoal or charred vegetative matter, and coal-like and coal-cinder particles. Chemical analysis showed that coal-like (glassy, nonporous) and coal-cinder (porous, sintered) particles exhibited very high PAH concentrations and high apparent partition coefficients. These particles also exhibited significantly higher condensed-phase (nonvolatile) organic carbon contents as defined by thermal oxidation at 375°C. The apparent partition coefficients of PAHs in the coal-cinder particles were a good indication of the apparent partition coefficients in the desorption-resistant fraction of UH sediment, indicating that the coarse particles provided a reasonable characterization of the desorption-resistance phenomena in these sediments even though the coarse fractions represented less than 25% of the organic carbon in the whole sediment.
AB - Physical separations were employed to characterize the source of desorption-resistant behavior for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in laboratory- and field-contaminated sediments. Size and density separation of laboratory-contaminated sediments did not effectively separate the amorphous-phase (volatile) and condensed-phase (nonvolatile) organic carbon as measured by thermal oxidation at 375°C. These separations also did not result in sediment fractions with significantly different desorption characteristics as measured by apparent partition coefficients. Coarse particles from a field-contaminated sediment from Utica Harbor (UH; Utica, NY, USA), however, could be directly separated into sandy fractions and organic fractions that were composed of woody organic matter, charcoal or charred vegetative matter, and coal-like and coal-cinder particles. Chemical analysis showed that coal-like (glassy, nonporous) and coal-cinder (porous, sintered) particles exhibited very high PAH concentrations and high apparent partition coefficients. These particles also exhibited significantly higher condensed-phase (nonvolatile) organic carbon contents as defined by thermal oxidation at 375°C. The apparent partition coefficients of PAHs in the coal-cinder particles were a good indication of the apparent partition coefficients in the desorption-resistant fraction of UH sediment, indicating that the coarse particles provided a reasonable characterization of the desorption-resistance phenomena in these sediments even though the coarse fractions represented less than 25% of the organic carbon in the whole sediment.
KW - Condensed-phase organic matter
KW - Desorption resistance
KW - Hydrophobic organic contaminants
KW - Sediments
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34447530487&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1897/06-003.1
DO - 10.1897/06-003.1
M3 - Article
C2 - 17665677
AN - SCOPUS:34447530487
VL - 26
SP - 1380
EP - 1385
JO - Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
JF - Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
SN - 0730-7268
IS - 7
ER -