Volume reduction of nonaqueous media contaminated with a highly halogenated model compound using superoxide

Highly halogenated organic compounds, which include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) formed during the synthesis of pentachlorophenol and chlorophenoxy herbicides, are often found as contaminants in less toxic nonaqueous media, such as waste oil, oily sludges, or biosolids. Superoxide is highly reactive with halogenated compounds when both are dissolved in nonaqueous media; however, superoxide is most economically generated in water, where it is unreactive with most organic compounds. Superoxide reactivity was investigated in organic solvent-water systems as a basis for treating halogenated contaminants in less toxic nonaqueous media. Such a process could potentially render a contaminated oil or sludge nonhazardous, providing a mechanism for waste volume reduction. Increasing amounts of water added to acetone and dimethyl sulfoxide systems decreased the activity of superoxide in the solvent, but enough activity remained for effective treatment. Superoxide was then generated in the aqueous phase of two-phase water-organic solvent systems, and significant superoxide activity was achieved in the organic media with the addition of phase transfer catalysts (PTCs) to transfer superoxide into the nonaqueous phase. The results of this research demonstrate that superoxide, which can be generated in water electrochemically or through the catalytic decomposition of peroxygens, has the potential to be transferred to oils, sludges, and other less toxic nonaqueous media to destroy highly refractory contaminants such as PCBs, PCDDs, and other halogenated contaminants.