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Phenanthrene adsorption by soils treated with humic substances under different pH and temperature conditions

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Abstract

The mobility of phenanthrene (PHE) in soils depends on its sorption and is influenced by either the existing soil humus or exogenous humic substances. Exogenous humic acids (HAs) were added to soil to enhance the amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) by 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 g kg−1. PHE desorption of the treated soils was determined at two pH levels (3.0 and 6.0) and temperatures (15 and 25 °C). Soil PHE adsorption was related to pH and the type and quantity of added HAs. Humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA) derived from peat had different effects on adsorption of PHE. Adsorption increased at first and then decreased with increasing quantity of exogenous FA. When the soil solution pH (in 0.005 M CaCl2) was 4.5 or 3.0, the turning points were 2.5 g FA kg−1 at pH 3.0 and 5 g FA kg−1 at pH 4.5. When soil solution pH was 6, the amount of adsorbed PHE was enhanced with increasing exogenous HAs (HA or FA) and amount of adsorption by soil treated with FA was higher than with HA. Adsorption of PHE in the FA treatment at 10.0 g kg−1 was lower than the controls (untreated soil or treatment with HAs at 0 g kg−1) when the soil solution pH was 3.0. This suggests that FA adsorbed by soil was desorbed at low pH and would then increase PHE solubility, and PHE then combined with FA. PHE adsorption was usually higher under lower pH and/or lower temperature conditions. PHE sorption fitted the Freundlich isotherm, indicating that exogenous humic substances influenced adsorption of phenanthrene, which in turn was affected by environmental conditions such as pH and temperature. Thus, exogenous humic substances can be used to control the mobility of soil PAHs under appropriate conditions to decrease PAH contamination.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Major State Basic Research and Development Program of the People’s Republic of China (2002CB410810), the National Science Foundation of China (No. 40432005), for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil and Environmental Bioremediation Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Lifeng Ping, Yongming Luo, Longhua Wu, Wei Qian & Jing Song

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lifeng Ping

  3. Agricultural and Environmental Science Department, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, BT9 5PX, UK

    Peter Christie

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  1. Lifeng Ping
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  2. Yongming Luo
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  3. Longhua Wu
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  4. Wei Qian
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  5. Jing Song
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  6. Peter Christie
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Correspondence to Yongming Luo.

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Ping, L., Luo, Y., Wu, L. et al. Phenanthrene adsorption by soils treated with humic substances under different pH and temperature conditions. Environ Geochem Health 28, 189–195 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-005-9030-0

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