Adsorption of water‐soluble polychlorinated biphenyl aroclor 1242 and used capacitor fluid by soil materials and coal chars

Abstract

Abstract Adsorption of the water‐soluble PCBs Aroclor 1242 and a used capacitor fluid (impregnated with Aroclor 1242) by five earth materials and their low‐temperature ashes were studied under constant‐temperature laboratory conditions. The five earth materials studied were medium‐temperature coal char (MTC), high‐temperature coal char (HTC), Catlin soil (CS), montmorillonite clay (MC), and Ottawa silica sand (OS). Adsorption followed the series MTC > HTC > CS > MC > OS. There were no significant differences between adsorption of the Aroclor 1242 and the used capacitor fluid by any of the five earth materials. A simple linear relation described the adsorption of PCBs from aqueous solution by the earth materials and yielded an adsorption constant (K) unique to each adsorbent. Very highly significant (.001 level) linear correlations were found for K as a function of total organic carbon (TOC.), the coefficient of determination, r 2 equals 0.87; K as a function of the surface area measured with carbon dioxid...