Sorption kinetics of parent and substituted PAHs for low-density polyethylene (LDPE): Determining their partition coefficients between LDPE and water (KLDPE) for passive sampling

Pei Lei; Jinjie Zhu; Ke Pan; Hong Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.jes.2019.07.021

Sorption kinetics of parent and substituted PAHs for low-density polyethylene (LDPE): Determining their partition coefficients between LDPE and water (K_LDPE) for passive sampling

J Environ Sci (China). 2020 Jan:87:349-360. doi: 10.1016/j.jes.2019.07.021. Epub 2019 Aug 6.

Authors

Pei Lei¹, Jinjie Zhu², Ke Pan³, Hong Zhang⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
³ Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: hongzhang@rcees.ac.cn.

PMID: 31791508
DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2019.07.021

Abstract

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) has been widely used as a sorbent for passive sampling of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) in aquatic environments. However, it has seen only limited application in passive sampling for measurement of freely dissolved concentrations of parent and substituted PAHs (SPAHs), which are known to be toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic. Here, the 16 priority PAHs and some typical PAHs were selected as target compounds and were simultaneously determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Some batch experiments were conducted in the laboratory to explore the adsorption kinetics of the target compounds in LDPE membranes. The results showed that both PAHs and SPAHs could reach equilibrium status within 19-38 days in sorption kinetic experiments. The coefficients of partitioning between LDPE film (50 μm thickness) and water (K_LDPE) for the 16 priority PAHs were in good agreement with previously reported values, and the values of K_LDPE for the 9 SPAHs are reported in this study for the first time. Significant linear relationships were observed, i.e., log K_LDPE = 0.705 × log K_OW + 1.534 for PAHs (R² = 0.8361, p < 0.001) and log K_LDPE = 0.458 × log K_OW + 3.092 for SPAHs (R² = 0.5609, p = 0.0077). The selected LDPE film was also proven to meet the condition of "zero sink" for the selected target compounds. These results could provide basic support for the configuration and in situ application of passive samplers.

Keywords: Freely dissolved concentrations; Low-density polyethylene (LDPE); PAHs; Passive sampling; Substituted PAHs (SPAHs).

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
Kinetics
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / analysis*
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / chemistry
Polyethylene / analysis*
Polyethylene / chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / chemistry

Substances

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Polyethylene