Relationship of properties of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to sequestration in soil

A study was conducted to determine whether the sequestration of 21 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil was correlated with their properties. From 22 to 58% of the PAHs was not extracted with n-butanol after their addition to soil. After 28 days of aging, the percentage of the PAHs remaining in the soil increased to 47-77%; however, nearly all of each compound was recovered by Soxhlet extraction. Correlations were based on the amounts of aged compound extracted with butanol. Properties of compounds used in the correlations included K-ow, molecular length and molecular-connectivity indices (MCIs). No one property, including log K-ow, resulted in an R-2 value greater than 0.26. A chain MCI ( (6)chi (v)(CH)) together with log K-ow, or a first-order MCI ( (1)chi) resulted in R-2 values of 0.39 and 0.54, respectively. The data suggest that the properties tested are not important to predicting the sequestration of PAHs in soil. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.