Methodical investigation of interactions between organic pollutants and humic organic material in coal wastewaters

Abstract

Coal wastewaters taken from a pond near Leipzig have been analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by GC-MS. Most of the organic constituents were pollutants; they included mainly phenol and alkylphenols. Whereas the identities of the main organic contaminants varied little between surface and deep water, the concentration of pollutants in the deeper water was considerably higher. Methodical investigation of interactions between organic pollutants of differentpolarity and aquatic humic substances showed that phenols, among them highly chlorinated and nitrated derivatives, were bound by humic matter. On changing the pH value from ca 7 to 2, all the adsorbed pollutants were released. © 1993 Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.