Abstract
This paper discusses the feasibility for use of surfactant solubilizing agents to enhance the solubility and the rate of microbial degradation of hydrophobic organic solutes in soil-water suspensions. Hydrophobic organic contaminants are strongly sorbed to soil or sediment material, and as a consequence the rate of microbial degradation may depend greatly on the desorption of the sorbed-phase contaminant and the accessibility of the contaminant to soil microorganisms. Chemical solubilizing agents may enhance the rate of hydrophobic organic solute degradation by increasing the rate of solute desorption from soil and the extent of solute partitioning to the aqueous phase. The presentation will review on-going research on: surfactant solubilization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds in clean water, and in soil-water suspensions; and experiments to assess if the addition of surfactant to soil-water suspension results in faster rate of mineralization of PAH compounds in soil.
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