title: The effect of temperature on the rate of disappearance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from soils.
abstract: The effect of temperature on the range and rate of disappearance of four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; fluorene, anthracene, pyrene and chrysene) added as a mixture of pure compounds to two different soils (light loam and loamy sand) was investigated over 180 days in a laboratory experiment. An increase in temperature from 10 to 25 degrees C enhanced the losses of all four PAHs from both soils. The effect of temperature on the rate of PAH disappearance depended on the physico-chemical properties of the compound and of the soil. The long half-lives at lower temperatures as obtained in the laboratory tests may suggest high persistence of higher molecular weight PAHs under some field conditions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soil Sciences and Cultivation of Plants, 24-100 Pulawy, Poland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maliszewska-Kordybach