Laboratory Studies of the Effects of Dissolved Organic Material on the Adsorption of Organochlorine Pesticides by Sediments and Transport in Rivers

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Abstract
In this study experiments simulating sediment/water system were carried on with sediments spiked with aldrin, heptachlor epoxide and p,p'-DDE. It was expected that these hydrophobic contaminants would be released to the overlying water column from sediment bed with molecular diffusion and co-diffusion with dissolved organic matter (DOM) as well. A three-phase-transport model including aqueous, solid and mobile adsorptive phases was developed and used to describe the behavior of these contaminants and to explain the results of the experiments. Sensitivity analyses show that observable effects of DOM occur only under conditions of high partition coefficient (Koc) of the contaminant and high rate of transfer from sediment organic matter to DOM. In this study, owing to the low concentration of DOM and relatively low hydrophobicity of the compounds, the DOM-associated pollutant flux does not significantly contribute to the total flux. Also, the simulated results of the model can reasonably explain the variations of the concentrations of the spiked compounds observed in the microcosms.

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