kaolinite and decabromobiphenyl-ether

The photodebromination of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) adsorbed onto six different solid matrixes was investigated in sunlight and by irradiation with 350 +/- 50 nm lamps (four lamps at 24 W each). After 14 days of lamp irradiation, BDE-209 degraded with a half-life of 36 and 44 days, respectively, on montmorillonite or kaolinite, with much slower degradation occurring when sorbed on organic carbon-rich natural sediment (t1/2 = 150 days). In late summer and fall sunlight (40.5 degrees N, elevation 600 ft), the half-lives of BDE-209 sorbed on montmorillonite and kaolinite were 261 and 408 days, respectively. Under both irradiation schemes, no significant loss of BDE-209 occurred when sorbed to aluminum hydroxide, iron oxide (ferrihydrite), or manganese dioxide (birnessite). Upon exposure to both lamp and solar light and in the presence of montmorillonite and kaolinite, numerous lesser brominated congeners (tri- to nonabromodiphenyl ethers) were produced. Nearly identical product distribution was evident on montmorillonite and kaolinite. Dark control experiments for each mineral showed no disappearance of BDE-209 or appearance of degradation products. These results suggest that photodegradation of BDE-209 on mineral aerosols during long-range atmospheric transport may be an important fate process for BDE-209 in the environment.

Topics: Adsorption; Aerosols; Aluminum Hydroxide; Aluminum Silicates; Bentonite; Biodegradation, Environmental; Clay; Ferric Compounds; Geologic Sediments; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; Kaolin; Kinetics; Manganese Compounds; Minerals; Oxides; Phenyl Ethers; Photochemistry; Polybrominated Biphenyls; Water Pollutants, Chemical

The kinetics of direct photochemical transformations of organic compounds in light absorbing and scattering media has been sparsely investigated. This is mostly due to the experimental difficulties to assess the major parameters: light intensity in porous media, the reaction quantum yield and the molar absorption coefficient of the adsorbed compound, epsilon(i) (lambda). Here, we propose a method for the determination of the molar absorption coefficient of compounds adsorbed to air-dry surfaces using the Kubelka-Munk model for the description of radiative transfer. To illustrate the method, the molar absorption coefficients of three compounds, i.e. 4-nitroanisole (PNA), the herbicide trifluralin and the flame retardant decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE), were determined on air-dry kaolinite. The measured diffuse reflectance spectra were evaluated with the Kubelka-Munk model and with previously determined Kubelka-Munk absorption and scattering coefficients (k and s), for kaolinite. For all compounds the maximum absorption band was found to be red shifted and the corresponding epsilon(i) (lambda) values were significantly greater than those determined in solvents. Together with the absorption and scattering coefficient of the medium, the measured epsilon(i) (lambda) can be used to determine the quantum yield of the photochemical reaction in this medium from experimentally determined reaction kinetics.

Topics: Adsorption; Anisoles; Chemistry, Physical; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; Kaolin; Models, Chemical; Organic Chemicals; Phenyl Ethers; Polybrominated Biphenyls; Trifluralin