Organic contaminant sorption parameters should only be compared across a consistent system of linear functions

Mark A Chappell; Jennifer M Seiter; Haley M West; Lesley F Miller; Maria E Negrete; Joshua J LeMonte; Beth E Porter; Cynthia L Price; Matthew A Middleton

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03511

Organic contaminant sorption parameters should only be compared across a consistent system of linear functions

Heliyon. 2020 Mar 26;6(3):e03511. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03511. eCollection 2020 Mar.

Authors

Mark A Chappell¹, Jennifer M Seiter¹, Haley M West¹, Lesley F Miller¹, Maria E Negrete¹, Joshua J LeMonte¹, Beth E Porter¹, Cynthia L Price¹, Matthew A Middleton¹

Affiliation

¹ U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center, 3909 Halls Ferry Rd, Vicksburg, MS, 39180, USA.

Abstract

Modeling contaminant sorption data using a linear model is very common; however, the rationale for whether the y-intercept should be constrained or not remains a subject of debate. This article justifies constraining the y-intercept in the linear model to zero. By doing so, one imposes consistency on the system of linear equations, allowing for direct comparison of the sorption coefficients.

Keywords: Contaminant transport; Distribution coefficient; Environmental pollution; Environmental science; Homogeneous system of linear equations; Linear sorption modeling; Organic contaminants; Soil chemistry; Soil pollution; Surface chemistry; System of consistent linear equations.