Chemical interactions between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and sediments : interaction of naphthalene with marine sediments

Abstract

A methodology for studying sorption kinetics of naphthalene in sediments and, for monitoring the free and sorbed forms of naphthalene, has been developed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography online microextraction and offline phase separation methodologies. Investigations of naphthalene sorption in two marine sediments were carried out at 25°C to assess the suitability of the method for volatile analytes. Results of sorption kinetics are consistent with a two-step process in which the first step involves labile sorption of naphthalene onto the sediment. In the second step, naphthalene becomes unrecoverable. Pseudo-first order rate coefficients for the disappearance of naphthalene from solution were obtained in the order of 90 day [superscript -1] for an initial fast sorption step and 0.5 day [superscript -1] for a slower sorption step.