Research

Sorption of PAHs to humic acid- and iron(III)carbon ate particles by using passive dosing vials for investigating the transport of organic contamination in stormwater runoff

Read the article

Abstract

During the last decades, the growing urbanisation a nd increasing anthropogenic activities in urban areas have turned urban stormwater runoff int o a surface water quality contamination problem. The concerns of urban stormwater runoff as a source of contamination in the receiving surface water (lakes, rivers or sea) have been raised by researchers throughout the world (e.g. Broman et. al., 1987, and Xanthopoulos et. al., 1990), and have in Europe gained increased interest in relation to the implementatio n of the Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC). Particles (often defined as >0.45 μm) has been foun d to facilitate transport of organic contaminants and metals in stormwater runoff system s, but little is known about the role of the colloidal fraction including nano-sized particl es (0.001-1 μm). Based on the large specific surface area of colloids and nanosized particles, t heir abundance, and knowledge about their facilitated transport of persistent organic polluti on in natural waters, they are likely to diminish the efficiency of engineered treatment sys tems unless appropriately accounted for. In this work organic and inorganic nanosized partic les were investigated for their ability to sorb polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) in an aqueous solution. These particles were used as indicators for stormwater particles which a re diverse in size and composition. For controlling the sorption onto the particles, passiv e doing vials were used (Birch et. al., 2010). Using passive dosing vials gives the possible to co ntrol freely dissolved analyte by equilibrium partitioning from a preloaded silicone membrane. It has been found that the presence of humic acid particles (80 nm) leads to an increasing amount of two PAHs (fluoranthene and phenanthrene) in the suspension. For iron(III)carbo nate particles (22 nm) sorption experiments are ongoing. Based on these results and a literature review, the importance of including particulate fractions for surface water q uality assessment in relation to the WFD will be discussed.