Fenton's type reaction and chemical pretreatment of PCBs

This study evaluates the effects of Fenton's reagent (FR) on the rate and e xtent of the oxidative degradation of individual mono, di-, tri- and tetrac hlorobiphenyls in the commercial mixture DELOR 103, equivalent to AROCLOR 1 248. The oxidation effect of FR strongly increased with increasing the mola r ratio of Fe2+/H2O2. The most effective oxidation of DELOR 103 (10 mu g.ml (-1)) was achieved in a solution containing 1M H2O2 and 1 mM Fe2+. The FR e limination rate constants of PCB congeners decrease with increasing number of chlorine substituents in the biphenyl molecule and show a good correlati on with the values of molecular weights of the PCB congeners and their 1-oc tanol/water partition coefficients. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. AII righ ts reserved.