Effects of irradiating peats on their ability to extract BTEX and cadmium from contaminated water

Abstract

Abstract This paper reports on research designed to investigate the effects of increasing amounts of gamma radiation on the abilities of peats with different chemical, physical, and microbiological properties to extract gasoline‐derived contaminants (BTEX's) and cadmium from water. Unaltered and irradiated peats were slurried under controlled conditions in aqueous solutions of gasoline and of cadmium. All peat types were also examined by various analytical methods for physical, chemical, or microbiological changes that might have occurred due to the radiation. Radiation was found to increase BTEX sorption capacity by 10–65%, depending on the peat type. A maximum BTEX sorption capacity was reached somewhere between 4.5 and 6.5 megarads of radiation. The more fibric peats tended to reach their BTEX sorption maximum more quickly than the more sapric peats. In contrast to the hydrocarbons, cadmium sorption capacity tended to be decreased by radiation, for the more fibric peats (by as much as 80%); while, the ...