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Equilibrium Porewater Measurement of PCBs and PAHs Using Direct Water Extraction and Comparison with Passive

Songjing Yan¹, Mandar Bokare¹, Upal Ghosh¹

¹Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland 21227, United States.

Environmental Science & Technology

|June 27, 2022

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Direct porewater extraction accurately measures hydrophobic pollutants like PCBs and PAHs in sediments. This method is effective for assessing toxicity and bioaccumulation, with a new approach enhancing accuracy for highly hydrophobic compounds.

Area of Science:

Environmental Chemistry
Ecotoxicology
Sediment Analysis

Background:

Freely dissolved hydrophobic pollutant concentrations in sediment porewater (Cp w) are key drivers of aquatic organism exposure, bioaccumulation, toxicity, and interfacial flux.
Accurate measurement of Cp w is crucial for environmental risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare direct porewater extraction with passive sampling for measuring Cp w of PCBs and PAHs in sediments.
To evaluate the suitability of direct water extraction for assessing toxicity and bioaccumulation.
To develop an improved extrapolation approach for Cp w measurements.

Main Methods:

Direct porewater extraction was used to measure Cp w of PCBs and PAHs in field-collected sediments.
Results were compared with four independent passive sampling methods.

Keywords:

PAHs PCBs direct water extraction passive sampling sediment porewater

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Toxicity and bioaccumulation predictions were made based on measured Cp w.

Main Results:

Direct water extraction accurately quantified Cp w for low to moderately hydrophobic compounds (log K ow < 6.5), aligning well with passive sampling.
Direct water extraction adequately assessed narcosis toxicity for PAHs.
PCB bioaccumulation predictions agreed within 50% across methods, but direct extraction faced detection limit challenges for highly hydrophobic PCBs in less contaminated sediments.

Conclusions:

Direct porewater extraction is a reliable method for measuring Cp w of less hydrophobic pollutants.
A novel extrapolation approach enhances Cp w measurement accuracy for strongly hydrophobic compounds and naphthalene.
Improved Cp w measurements support better environmental risk assessments for aquatic ecosystems.