Nonylphenol mass transfer from field-aged sediments and subsequent biodegradation in reactors mimicking different river conditions

Abstract

Sediments can function as secondary source for water pollution of aerobically biodegradable non-halogenated organic compounds, which are persistent in anaerobic sediments. The mass transfer of compounds from sediment to bulk water depends on hydraulic conditions. In this study, desorption, mass transfer and biodegradation are investigated under settled and resuspended sediment conditions for branched nonylphenol (NP), which was used as model compound for aerobically biodegradable and anaerobic persistent compounds. Continuous flow through reactor experiments were performed in duplicate with aged NP polluted sediment under sterile and non-sterile conditions to investigate the mass transfer and combined mass transfer and biodegradation. The mass transfer of NP from the sediment bed to the bulk water decreased from 5.1 ± 0.6 μg d–1 to a stable value of 0.3 ± 0.02 μg d–1. The desorbed NP in the non-sterile reactors was biodegraded in the first 20 days of the experiment. At the end of the settled sediment conditions, the biodegradation became very limited, and the mass transfer was comparable to the mass transfer under sterile conditions. Upon resuspension, the NP concentration in the bulk water increased instantaneously in all reactors with a factor of 100. This immediate, increased mass transfer of NP from the sediment was larger than the amount that can be biodegraded under optimal conditions. Under non-sterile conditions, a second increase in the mass transfer was observed. However, the amount of desorbing NP during this second increase in mass transfer can be biodegraded under optimal environmental conditions. NP desorbs continuously at low concentrations from the sediment bed into the bulk water, which can almost be completely biodegraded. Resuspension of NP-polluted sediment initially led to an increase in the desorbing NP concentrations and can be followed by a subsequent reduction of the concentrations due to biodegradation under environmental conditions where biodegradation of NP can occur.