Differences in structure and composition of soil humic substances and their binding for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in different climatic zones

Abstract

Humic substances (HSs) play important roles in the transport and bioavailability of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in soils. The sorption of HOCs depends on the compositions and structures of HSs which may differ in different climatic zones, however, the sorption behavior of HOCs by HSs in soils from different climatic zones is poorly understood. In this study, different HS fractions (humic acids-HAs, fulvic acids-FAs and humin-HM) in soils from different climatic zones were extracted and used as sorbents for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The results indicated that HSs (including HA, FA and HM fractions) from colder climatic zones contained more oxygen-containing functional groups and exhibited smaller molecular weight as well as higher aliphaticity and polarity than those from warmer climatic zones. The sorption affinity of HAs at the low given concentration (0.05 Sw) of naphthalene (Nap), phenanthrene (Phe), pyrene (Pyr) and benz(α)anthracene (BaA) from warmer climatic zones to colder ones increased from 26.3 to 43.9, from 36.7 to 114.0, from 125.8 to 388.8, and from 322.5 to 876.1, respectively, and the same trends were obtained for FAs and HM at the same PAH concentration. The results indicated that HSs from colder climatic zones showed higher sorption affinity than those from warmer climatic zones. Moreover, the weighted contributions of FAs, HAs and HM to the overall sorption from different climatic zones were 9.1–28.4%, 13.5–59.2% and 23.4–76.9%, respectively. This indicates FA fraction, a previously neglected component, is also an important contributor to binding PAHs in soils. This study suggests that the difference in sorption behaviors of HOCs to HSs among different climatic zones should be considered when predicting HOC fates and bioavailability in soils.