Impact of aging on the formation of bound residues after peroxidase-mediated treatment of 2,4-DCP contaminated soils

This study evaluated the impact of solute-soil contact time on the formation of bound residue in two surface soils exposed to solutions containing 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) or DCP polymerization products (DPP). DPP was generated by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) mediated oxidative polymerization of C-14-labeled DCP in the soil slurry. Soils were preloaded with DCP or DPP for durations ranging from 2 h to 84 days. Bound residue was described as solute that was resistant to methanol extraction. Alkali extractions were conducted to estimate the C-14-activity associated with the humic acid, fulvic acid, and humin/mineral components of the soil. Changes in the distribution of the preloaded C-14-DCP and C-14-DPP were observed as a function of the solute-soil contact time. Results suggest that an assumption of sorption equilibrium based solely on the achievement of constant aqueous- or solid-phase solute concentrations can lead to erroneous conclusions about the establishment of true thermodynamic sorption equilibrium. This work also illustrated that (i) significant irreversible binding of phenolic contaminants to soils can be achieved during peroxidase-mediated treatment; and (ii) the aging process can lead to greater bound-residue formation over time.