Effect of organic matter and selected heavy metals on sorption of acenaphthene, fluorene and fluoranthene onto various clays and clay minerals

The effects of organic matter (80% humic and 15% fulvic acid) and coexistence of heavy metals (Ni, Pb and Zn) on sorption of three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)—acenaphthene, fluorene and fluoranthene—were examined for kaolinite, 60% kaolinite + 40% sand, and 43% kaolinite + 42% sand + 15% bentonite. In total 108 batch sorption tests of PAHs were conducted for three types of clay mineral mixtures in six possible combinations of soil organic matter and heavy metal contents from no heavy metals and organic matter added to maximum organic matter added with spiked heavy metals. Results showed that the existence of metals increased the sorption of PAHs onto kaolinite from 4.7% for acenaphthene to 17.9% for fluoranthene. Organic matter in a kaolinite-sand-bentonite matrix could increase PAH sorption by up to 140% for fluoranthene. In all cases, increases were greater for fluoranthene, a larger PAH molecule. Heavy metals coexisting with organic matter led to enhanced sorption of PAHs compared to clay minerals without organic matter. Synergistic effects of organic matter and heavy metals on PAH sorption increments in the mixtures studied were such that the overall sorption could be 10–41% higher than that based on summation of the separate effects of metals and organics.