Generalized models for prediction of pentachlorophenol dissipation dynamics in soils

Polarity and Molecular Weight of Compost-Derived Humic Acids Impact Bio-dechlorination of Pentachlorophenol

Compost-derived humic acids (HAs) as cheap soil conditioners have potential to facilitate pentachlorophenol (PCP) bio-dechlorination but lack proof and studies. To clarify this, PCP bio-dechlorination mediated by compost-derived HAs under Fe(III) reduction conditions was investigated. Reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography and high-performance size exclusion chromatography were employed to identify the functional components within compost-derived HAs. Our results showed that compost-derived HAs facilitated the bio-dechlorination of PCP under Fe(III) reduction conditions, and four kinds of byproducts were detected during the process. The relatively hydrophilic and high molecular weight (MW) components within compost-derived HAs presented significant associations with the concentration of byproducts from bio-dechlorination of PCP in Fe₂O₃ reduction conditions. In contrast, the hydrophobic and low MW components were the main functional components for PCP bio-dechlorination in Fe₃O₄ reduction environment. These findings clarified the effects of polarity and MW of compost-derived HAs on PCP bio-dechlorination, giving clues to optimize composting technology to utilize compost products for in situ contamination remediation of paddy soil.

A process-based model for pentachlorophenol dissipation in a flooded paddy soil

Process-based models have been widely used for predicting environmental fate of contaminants. Nevertheless, accurate modeling of pentachlorophenol (PCP) dissipation in soils at the millimeter-scale remains a challenge due to the scarcity of observation data and uncertainty associated with model assumptions and estimation of the model parameters. To provide quantitative analysis of PCP-dissipation at the anaerobic/aerobic interface of a rhizobox experiment, this study implemented Bayesian parameter estimation for a process-based reactive chemical transport model. The model considered the main transport and transformation processes of chemicals including diffusion, sorption and degradation. The contributions of the processes to PCP dissipation were apportioned both in space and time. Using the maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) estimation of parameters, our model fitted the experimental data better compared with the previous work. Our results indicated that the most reactive zone for PCP dissipation occurred in the layer of 0-2.4 mm where degradation in solid phase dominated the PCP dissipation, while upward diffusion was the main mechanism for the reduction of PCP concentration in deeper layer (2.4-4.8 mm). By considering the coupled reactive transport of PCP and Cl^-, the average degrees of PCP dechlorination in each layer were estimated from corresponding total concentrations of PCP and Cl^-. The degrees of PCP dechlorination in the ponding water and the top layer of soil profile were highest, while 2,3,4,5- TeCP and 3,4,5- TCP were identified as the main dechlorination products in the soil. This study demonstrated that combining Bayesian estimation with process-based reactive chemical transport model can provide more insights of PCP dissipation at the millimeter-scale. This approach can help to understand complex dissipation mechanisms for other contaminants.

Insights into the redox components of dissolved organic matters during stabilization process

The changes of dissolved organic matter (DOM) components during stabilization process play significant effects on its redox properties but are little reported. Composting is a stabilization process of DOM, during which both the components and electron transfer capacities (ETCs) of DOM change. The redox components within compost-derived DOM during the stabilization process are investigated in this study. The results show that compost-derived DOM contained protein-like, fulvic-like, and humic-like components. The protein-like component decreases during composting, whereas the fulvic- and humic-like components increase during the process. The electron-donating capacity (EDC), electron-accepting capacity (EAC), and ETC of compost-derived DOM all increase during composting but their correlations with the components presented significant difference. The humic-like components were the main functional component responsible for both EDC and ETC, whereas the protein- and fluvic-like components show negative effects with the EAC, EDC, and ETC, suggesting that the components within DOM have specific redox properties during the stabilization process. These findings are very meaningful for better understanding the geochemical behaviors of DOM in the environment.

The dechlorination of pentachlorophenol under a sulfate and iron reduction co-occurring anaerobic environment

An anaerobic soil slurry incubation experiment was conducted by controlling different Fe/S mole ratios (1/3, 1/2, 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, 8/1 and the control without sulfate) through the addition of sodium sulfate, to investigate the effect of sulfate and iron reduction on the reductive dechlorination of pentachlorophenol (PCP). Two sequential incubation periods were carried out with the stage I incubation conducted under a low electron donor concentration (0.5 mM lactate) and stage II incubation conducted under increased electron donor supply with lactate at 20 mM. During stage I, the production of Fe(II) occurred markedly while sulfate reduction and PCP dechlorination rate were low, with the highest dechlorination rates of PCP only 11.0% among all treatments at the end of stage I incubation. During stage II, both PCP dechlorination and sulfate reduction were greatly enhanced in all treatments, while the concentration of Fe(II) changed slightly. The rate of PCP dechlorination decreased (from 87.7% to 34.2%) with the increase of sulfate concentration (from Fe/S mole ratio of 8/1 to 1/3). Our study suggested that the presence of a certain amount of sulfate might facilitate PCP dechlorination in the range of Fe/S mole ratios greater than 1 when compared with the control without SO₄^2-. With the investigation of the dechlorination of PCP under the Fe-S-PCP coexisting condition with different Fe/S mole ratios, our study may provide improved strategy for optimizing the remediation of flooded soils and sediments polluted by PCP.

Enhanced abiotic and biotic contributions to dechlorination of pentachlorophenol during Fe(III) reduction by an iron-reducing bacterium Clostridium beijerinckii Z

A novel Fe(III) reducing bacterium, Clostridium beijerinckii Z, was isolated from glucose amended paddy slurries, and shown to dechlorinate pentachlorophenol (PCP). Fifty percent of added PCP was removed by C. beijerinckii Z alone, which increased to 83% in the presence of both C. beijerinckii Z and ferrihydrite after 11 days of incubation. Without C. beijerinckii Z, the surface-bound Fe(II) also abiotically dechlorinated more than 40% of the added PCP. This indicated that the biotic dechlorination by C. beijerinckii Z is a dominant process causing PCP transformation through anaerobic dechlorination, and that the dechlorination rates can be accelerated by simultaneous reduction of Fe(III). A biochemical electron transfer coupling process between sorbed Fe(II) produced by C. beijerinckii Z and reductive dehalogenation is a possible mechanism. This finding increases our knowledge of the role of Fe(III) reducing genera of Clostridium in dechlorinating halogenated organic pollutants, such as PCP, in anaerobic paddy soils.

The impact of solution chemistry of electrolyte on the sorption of pentachlorophenol and phenanthrene by natural hematite nanoparticles

Hematite nanoparticles (NPs) were studied as a sorbent for hydrophobic organic contaminants (OCs) under natural ambient conditions through specially designed contrasting solution chemistry of electrolyte. Ionizable pentachlorophenol (PCP) and non-ionizable phenanthrene (PHE) were selected as representative OCs. The sorption capacities of PCP and PHE were pH-dependent, and a larger amount of PCP was sorbed at pH values below its pKa (4.75). However, the PHE sorption capacity was higher at relatively high or low pHs (e.g. below 4.0 and above 10.0), possibly due to the larger available surface area of the hematite NPs, caused by the higher values of net charges and charge density. Changes in pH might thus affect the sorption of OCs by hematite NPs, through modification of the surface characteristics of the sorbent and the electronic properties of the sorbate molecules. The influence of different ionic strengths indicated that the amounts of PCP and PHE sorbed by hematite NPs decreased as a concentration function of different types of ions (e.g. Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+) and Ca(2+)), with the underlying mechanism possibly being due to four interactions i.e. hydrogen-bonding, competitive sorption by ions in the ambient solution, screening effects and aggregation effects. The results confirmed that the surface chemistry of hematite NPs, the chemical properties of PCP and PHE, and solution chemistry (e.g. pH and ionic strength) of the electrolyte all played an important role in PCP and PHE sorption by hematite NPs. By comparison of both sorption capacity and ecologic advantages, our results suggested that natural hematite NPs would be more competitive and efficient for PCP and PHE sorption than engineered NPs. This finding increases our knowledge regarding the environmental function of natural NPs (such as hematite NPs) for OC remediation through manipulating their interfacial behavior.

Spatial and temporal variations in pentachlorophenol dissipation at the aerobic--anaerobic interfaces of flooded paddy soils

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) dissipation occurs naturally in flooded soils and although dissipation half-lives vary between soil profiles at the millimeter-scale the reason is poorly understood. Vertical variations of PCP dissipation were investigated in three typical Chinese paddy soils; Soil 1 (Umbraqualf), Soil 2 (Plinthudult) and Soil 3 (Tropudult). The soil depth was divided into a surface and a deep layer based upon different PCP dissipations in the surface layer of 40-93, 42-88 and 16-100% for Soils 1-3 respectively. In the deep layer, PCP was greatly dissipated in Soil 2, but much less in Soil 1 and Soil 3. Correlation analysis indicated that SO4(2-) and Fe(III) were negatively related to PCP dissipation. SO4(2-) and Cl(-) were highly mobile in the flooded soil profiles. Fe(III) reduction increased with increasing soil depth, and was inhibited by high SO4(2-) concentrations.

Changing redox potential by controlling soil moisture and addition of inorganic oxidants to dissipate pentachlorophenol in different soils

The potential for dissipation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) was investigated in soils from four different sites in China. These were an umbraqualf (Soil 1), a Plinthudult (Soil 2), a Haplustalf (Soil 3) and an Argiustoll (Soil 4) which were either flooded, to produce anaerobic conditions, or incubated aerobically at 60% water-holding capacity (WHC). The dissipation of PCP in Soil 1 at 60% WHC was higher than under flooded condition, while the opposite occurred in the other three soils. Under flooded conditions, the redox potential decreased significantly in Soil 1 and Soil 4, where sulphate reduction was occurred and the dissipation of PCP was statistically significant (about 96% and 98%, respectively) at the end of incubation. After addition of inorganic oxidants, dissipation of PCP was significantly inhibited by FeCl(3), while Na(2)SO(4) and NaNO(3) had different effects, depending upon the soil type.