A comparison of water solubility enhancements of organic solutes by aquatic humic materials and commercial humic acids

Abstract

Water solubility enhancements of 1,1-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane (p,p'-DDT), 2,4,5,2',5'-pentachlorobiphenyl (2,4,5,2',5'-PCB), and 2,4,4'-trichlorobiphenyl (2,4,4'-PCB) by dissolved organic matter have been studied with the following samples: (1) acidic water samples from the Suwannee River, Georgia, and the Sopchoppy River, Florida; (2) a humic extract of a nearly neutral pH water from the Calcasieu River, Louisiana; (3) commercial humic acids from the Aldrich Chemical Co. and Fluka-Tridom Chemical Corp. The calculated partition coefficients on a dissolved organic carbon basis (K/sub doc/) for organic solutes with water samples and aquatic humic extracts from this and earlier studies indicate that the enhancement effect varies with the molecular composition of the aquatic humic materials, The K/sub doc/ values with water and aquatic humic samples are, however, far less than the observed K/sub doc/ values obtained with the two commercial samples, by factors of about 4-20. In view of this finding, one should be cautious in interpreting the effects of the dissolved organic matter on solubility enhancement of organic solutes on the basis of the use of commercial humic acids. 14 references, 3 figures, 2 tables.