Fk. Kawahara et al., POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC HYDROCARBON (PAH) RELEASE FROM SOIL DURING TREATMENT WITH FENTONS REAGENT, Chemosphere, 31(9), 1995, pp. 4131-4142
Fenton's Reagent was used to treat soil from a wood-treating site in s
outheastern Ohio which had been contaminated with creosote. Slurries,
consisting of 10 g contaminated soil and 30 mL water were treated with
40 mL of Fenton's Reagent (1:1 of 30% H2O2:8.84 mM FeSO4). Concentrat
ions of fourteen PAHs were monitored during 24 hours treatment. In pre
liminary experiments, we observed a significant increase in the extrac
tibility of the PAHs after 1 hour of treatment. Twelve of the fourteen
PAHs showed consistent increases (13 to 56%) in extractibility from s
oil after one hour of contact time with the Reagent. Only acenaphthyle
ne and acenaphthene showed no increase in extractibility. Electron exc
hange by structural iron in clay mineral and the swelling of clay laye
rs is proposed as the release mechanism of tightly held PAHs. Results
obtained in this study suggest that this treatment may enhance soil re
mediation. The results also indicate that the PAH analytical method em
ployed may provide inaccurate results in some situations.