Influence of Short-Chain Aliphatic Acids on the Phenanthrene Desorption and Mobilization from Contaminated Soil

Abstract

This study was performed to investigate the influence of short-chain aliphatic acids (SCAAs) on the desorption of phenanthrene from artificially contaminated soils with this polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Five SCAAs examined, including acetic acid, oxalic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid and citric acid, were related to the increase of phenanthrene desorption from two kinds of soil. Citric acid and oxalic acid enhanced phenanthrene desorption to a more significant extent than other organic acids. The effects of pH, SCAA concentration, and ionic strength were further evaluated. The phenanthrene desorption was enhanced as the pH increased. An increase in desorbed phenanthrene from pH 3 to pH 8 was observed, but that was followed by a slight decrease above pH 8 for most SCAAs. The phenanthrene desorption performance showed increments with increasing organic acid concentrations. However, the increase of phenanthrene desorption became less remarkable when SCAA concentrations were above 100 mmol/L. Moreover the results suggested that high ionic strength hindered the desorption of phenanthrene in the presence of SCAAs.

Keywords:

• Phenanthrene
• short-chain aliphatic acid
• desorption
• pH
• ionic strength

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Major State Program of Water Pollution Control (2009ZX07104-004), the Canadian Water Network under the Networks of Centers of Excellence (NCE), and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. We are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions and advice.