Tributyltin sorption to marine sedimentary black carbon and to amended activated carbon

Under marine conditions, tributyltin (TBT) is speciated mainly as an uncharged hydroxyl complex (TBTOH) that is expected to have a similar fate to hydrophobic organic contaminants. Earlier studies indicated that for the later compounds, sorption to black carbon (BC) can be more than two orders of magnitude stronger than sorption to organic carbon, notably at low and environmentally relevant concentrations. The aim of the present study was to investigate the sorption strength of spiked TBT to a sediment and its BC isolate. It was observed that carbon-normalized sorption coefficients were in the same range for the sediment total organic carbon (TOC) and for its BC (log K(TOC) 5.05 L/kg(TOC) and log K(BC) 5.09 L/kg(BC), respectively). This indicates that TBT does not sorb as strongly to BC as other hydrophobic organic contaminants. Activated carbon (AC), a strong man-made sorbent, has the potential to be used for in situ remediation of contaminated sediments and soils, in particular for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls. In the present study, both granular and powdered AC were found to strongly sorb TBT under marine conditions, with a log sorption coefficient of 6.8 L/kg(carbon). Tributyl- and dibutyltin concentrations in the pore water of a natively contaminated sediment were reduced by more than 70% on addition of 2% of powdered AC, whereas granular AC did not show a similar reduction. The results indicate that powdered AC might be a feasible remediation agent for sediments contaminated by organotins.