Iron Oxide Mediated Degradation of Mutagen Pyrene and Determination of Degradation Products

Abstract

Abstract-Photocatalytic degradation of pyrene, a potent mutagen, has been studied on synthesized iron oxide, goethite and on soil surfaces in presence of goethite. The effect of soil pH and UV irradiation wavelength was also investigated. The decay profiles in all the cases follow first order kinetics. The results reveal that photodegradation of pyrene in soil is maximum under UV irradiation of short wavelength. The rate constants for the degradation of pyrene in the presence of optimum photocatalytic dose of goethite were 1.03 × 10 -2 , 3.52 × 10 -3 and 8.99 × 10 -3 h -1 , for acidic, neutral and alkaline soils respectively. Samples were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography in an isocratic mode and degradation products were identified using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Present work clearly demonstrates that goethite effectively disintegrates pyrene in soil into smaller non-toxic fragments.