Impacts of soil organic matter, pH and exogenous copper on sorption behavior of norfloxacin in three soils

Norfloxacin sorption and the factors (soil organic matter (SOM), pH, and exogenous copper (Cu) influencing the sorption were investigated in a black soil (soil B), a fluvo-aquic soil (soil F), and a red soil (soil R). With increasing norfloxacin concentrations, sorption amount of norfloxacin increased in both the bulk soils and their SOM-removed soils, but the sorption capacity of SOM-removed soils was higher than that of their corresponding bulk soils, indicating that the process of norfloxacin sorption in soil was influenced by the soil properties including SOM. The sorption data in all bulk soils and SOM-removed soils were fitted to Freundlich and Langmuir models. The correlation coefficients suggested that the experimental data fitted better to Freundlich equation than to Langmuir equation. Furthermore, the data from soil F and SOM-removed F could not be described by Langmuir equation. The norfloxacin sorption amount decreased in soil B and soil F, whereas it increased in soil R as solution pH increased. The maximum KD and KOC were achieved in soil R when the equilibrium solution pH was 6. The norfloxacin sorption was also influenced by the exogenous Cu2+, which depended on the soil types and Cu2+ concentrations. With increasing Cu2+ concentrations in solution, generally, sorption amount, KD and KOC for norfloxacin in soils increased and were up to a peak at 100 mg/L Cu2+, and then the sorption amount decreased regardless of norfloxacin levels.