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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Quantification of Polybutylene Adipate Terephthalate-based Micro- and Nano-plastics from Soil Using Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Published on: June 6, 2025
Temperature-dependence of soil/air partition coefficient for polychlorinated biphenyls at subzero temperatures
1Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education), School of Environmental and Biological Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
Abstract:
Soil/air partition coefficients (K(SA)) were measured experimentally on a silty clay loam soil spiked with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) over a wide range of environmentally relevant temperatures (-30 to +30 degrees C). Measured K(SA)-values ranged over 6.4 orders of magnitude, with log K(SA) from 4.3 for PCBs 10/4 at +30 degrees C to 10.7 for PCBs 77/110 at -30 degrees C. Higher than expected, K(SA)-values were observed at subzero temperatures (by up to one order of magnitude, at -30 degrees C). The plots of log K(SA) vs. reciprocal absolute temperature show a change in slope at 0 degrees C. A log-log linear regression of K(SA) vs. octanol/air partition coefficient (K(OA)) has a slope close to 1, indicating that K(OA) is a good descriptor of the interchemical variability in K(SA). Further study showed that K(OA)-based Karickhoff-type equations can perfectly fit experimental K(SA)-values.
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