Sorption of selected aromatic compounds by vegetables
Journal
Ecological Engineering
Journal Volume
61, Part A
Journal Volume
61
Journal Issue
0
Pages
74-81
Start Page
74
End Page
81
ISSN
09258574
Date Issued
2013-12
Author(s)
Abstract
The sorption equilibrium and uptake kinetics of toluene, p-xylene, and 4-chlorophenol in Chinese cabbage, lettuce, scallions, and peanut were examined. The kinetic experiment revealed that faster uptake rates were observed for plant with higher lipid content and for chemicals with higher log Kow, the octanol-water coefficient, consistent with that expected from the first order theory. Equilibrium was established in 12h. The resulting isotherms were strongly linear (R2=0.89-1.00), indicating that the sorption was primarily dominated by chemical partitioning between bulk phases/components. Plant lipid dominated over carbohydrates or proteins in sorption and accounted for 50-98% of the sorbed chemicals. Regression analysis showed that log Klip, the lipid-water partition coefficient, and log Kow for aromatic compounds were linearly related as follows: log Klip=1.12 log Kow (n=9, R2=0.998). The correlation allows sorption capacity of vegetation for a chemical to be estimated when the plant composition and the Kow of the chemical are available. These findings have implications for the management and the remediation of lands polluted by organic chemicals as well as the assessment of their fate in the environment.
Subjects
Composition model
Lipid
Lipid-water partition coefficient
Octanol-water partition coefficient
Partition
SDGs
Type
journal article