Microemulsion-enhanced remediation of soils contaminated with organochlorine pesticides

Yanlin Zhang, Jonathan W C WONG, Zhenyong Zhao, Ammaiyappan Selvam*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Soil contaminated by organic pollutants, especially chlorinated aromatic compounds such as DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane), is an environmental concern because of the strong sorption of organochlorine pesticide onto the soil matrix and persistence in the environment. The remediation of organochlorine pesticide contaminated soils through microemulsion is an innovative technology to expedite this process. The remediation efficiency was evaluated by batch experiments through studying the desorption of DDT and hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH) and sorption of microemulsion composed of Triton X-100, 1-pentanol and linseed oil in the soil-surfactant-water suspension system. The reduction of desorption efficiency caused by the sorption loss of microemulsion components onto the soil could be corrected by the appropriate adjustment of C/S (Cosurfactant/Surfactant) and O/S (Oil/Surfactant) ratio. The C/S and O/S ratios of 1:2 and 3:20 were suitable to desorb DDT and γ-HCH from the studied soils because of the lower sorption of Triton X-100 onto the soil. Inorganic salts added in microemulsion increased the pesticides desorption efficiency of pesticides and calcium chloride has a stronger ability to enhance the desorption of DDT than sodium chloride. From the remediation perspective, the balance of surfactant or cosurfactant sorbed to soil and desorption efficiency should be taken into consideration to enhance the remediation of soils contaminated by organochlorine pesticides.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1915-1922
Number of pages8
JournalEnvironmental Technology (United Kingdom)
Volume32
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2011

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Water Science and Technology
  • Waste Management and Disposal

User-Defined Keywords

  • desorption
  • microemulsion
  • organochlorine pesticide
  • soil remediation
  • sorption

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