Extraction techniques using isopropanol and Tenax to characterize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons bioavailability in sediment

- Isopropanol extraction was suitable for predicting target PAHs bioavailability.
- The optimal isopropanol concentrations predicted PAHs bioavailability were developed.
- A 24 h Tenax extraction period was adequate to estimate the rapidly desorbing fraction.
- Tenax showed a correlation with the biodegradation of Phe by strain J1-q within 30 d.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-degrading bacterium strain J1-q (Sphingomonas pseudosanguinis strain J1-q) was isolated from Yangtze River surface sediment in the downtown area of Chongqing in a previous study. Isopropanol and Tenax extraction techniques were used to characterize the bioavailability of target PAH compounds. Phenanthrene (Phe) and fluoranthene (Fluo) were the target PAHs due to their significant background concentrations in surface sediment samples. Isopropanol solutions at concentrations of 50-100% and residual Phe and Fluo concentrations in sediment were correlated, with R2 values of 0.9846 and 0.9649, respectively. The quantities of the Phe and Fluo fractions extracted for 3 days with isopropanol from sediment were closely related with the corresponding quantities of PAHs degraded by bacterial strain J1-q when the extracting concentrations were 55% and 80%, respectively. The quantity of Phe extracted by Tenax agreed with the total quantity biodegraded when the Tenax: sediment mass ratio was 0.25 and the target PAHs were degraded for 30 d, whereas the extracted quantity of Fluo accounted for 93.30% of the total quantity biodegraded by the bacterium. The triphasic model was appropriate to simulate the consecutive Phe and Fluo extraction process using Tenax at various Tenax: sediment ratios, and all simulated correlation coefficients were > 0.9151. A 24-h extraction period was adequate to estimate the rapidly desorbing fractions when they were extracted with Tenax. Isopropanol extraction was preferable to characterize Phe and Fluo bioavailability under the experimental conditions, whereas Tenax extraction was useful to predict bioavailability of the two target PAHs with particular selectivity.

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