Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato
Abstract
Synthetic hydrophobic organic compounds are a source of pollution in natural waters and can have effects on biological organisms. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is found within aqueous systems, and hydrophobic organic compounds undergo a sorption process to DOM. Understanding this sorption process is important in determining the environmental transport of these hydrophobic compounds and their bioavailability. A series of probe molecules that absorb visible light were used in an attempt to identify the different properties of hydrophobic species that promote sorption to DOM. An HPLC equipped with a size-exclusion chromatography column was used as a means to partition the prepared aqueous solutions. UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to detect the quantities of probe molecules that eluted from the column
