Adsorption of phthalate esters on soil at near saturation conditions

Batch studies were performed to determine the adsorption behavior of dimeth yl phthalate ester and diethyl phthalate ester on two sandy New jersey soil s at near saturation conditions. One soil had a very low organic matter con tent (<0.012%) while the other was quite higher (1.33%). Both esters displa yed BET type adsorption to the high organic content soil, while little adso rption was displayed to the low organic matter soil. Linear, Langmuir, Freu ndlich, BET, and a composite isotherm proposed by Marinas and Li were fitte d to the data. The composite isotherm fir best in all cases. The diethyl ph thalate evidence a greater tendency to adsorb than the dimethyl phthalate.