Sorption of carbon tetrachloride, ethylene dibromide, and trichloroethylene on soil and clay

Abstract

The sorption of carbon tetrachloride, ethylene dibromide, and trichloroethylene in two silty clay loam soils and aluminium (Al(3+)) or calcium (Ca(2+)) saturated montmorillonite clay was studied. When the adsorbents were exposed to environmental levels of these chemicals (10 to 1000 ppb in water) the amounts of each of the chemicals sorbed were 6% or less of that available except for a 17% sorption of trichloroethylene by Al-saturated clay. In the case of the Ca-saturated clay, there was no apparent sorption of carbon tetrachloride or trichloroethylene. When soil sorption was normalized based on the soil organic carbon content (K oc) a correlation was found between the K oc, water solubility, and octanol/water partitioning coefficients of the chemicals. However, carbon tetrachloride did not behave according to with the predicted relationships.