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Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) have received increasing attention in recent years due to their widespread use and hazards to human health and fertility in the environment. In order to understand the migration and release processes of organic pollutants in huge fluctuating zone soil, Dibutyl-phthalate(DBP) was chosen as a typical substance, and its migration and release characteristics in the fluctuating zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir to overlying water and the impacts of DBP concentration in the soil, ionic strength and the concentration of organic mater in overlying water on the process were studied using static flooding method. The results showed that DBP migrated from the soil to the overlying water in the early days after flooding, and the release process of DBP was divided into two phases: one was quick release with a relatively short releasing time and a rapid releasing rate; the other was slow release with a relatively long releasing time and a slow releasing rate. The migration and release processes were well fitted by two-compartment first-order kinetics. After different concentrations DBP were added into soil, the rate of quick release increased with the increasing DBP concentrations in soil while the percent of quick release decreased with the increasing DBP concentrations. The results of rate of slow release and the percent of slow release were on the contrary. The water conditions of overlying water could impact the migration and releasing process of DBP when the soil in fluctuating zone was flooded. The amount of DBP released into the overlying water would increase when the ionic strength in the water increased. At the same time, when the ionic strength increased, in spite of the decreasing quick release rate, the percent of quick release increased. The higher concentration of organic matter in overlying water, the more the amount of DBP released into the overlying water. At the same time, all of the rates of quick release, slow release and the percent of quick release would increase with the increasing concentrations of organic matter, while there was almost no influence on the percent of slow release of DBP.

In order to understand the environmental behavior of the organic pollutants Dibutyl-phthalate (DBP) in fluctuating zone soil, the migration and release processes of DBP in the fluctuating zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir to the overlying water and the impacts of temperature, light, coexistence phthalate-bis (2-ethylhexyl)-ester (DEHP), microbial activity on the process were studied using static flooding method. The results showed that DBP migrated from the soil to the overlying water in the early days after flooding, and the release process of DBP was divided into two phases: one was the quick release with a relatively short releasing time and a rapid releasing rate; the other was the slow release with a relatively long releasing time and a slow releasing rate. The slow release was a major speed control step, which could be well fitted by two-compartment first-order kinetics. In the interim (12 d) after flooding, the capacity of release reached a maximum, the DBP released from the soil into the water migrated from the water to the soil again after continued flooding, and eventually the content of DBP in soil and water reached equilibrium in the later period after flooding. The intensity of DBP releasing into the overlying water and the rapid releasing rate increased, while the slow releasing rate decreased when the temperature increased. The concentrations of DBP released into the water were different with different light sources. The concentration of DBP in the overlying water with treatment of natural light was higher than those with treatment of ultraviolet light UVB, UVA. After the amount of DBP in the overlying water reached the maximum, the content of DBP in the overlying water decreased relatively faster under the ultraviolet light than under the natural light. The largest release content of DBP and the time reached the largest release content were different with different oxygen content in the overlying water. Overall, the higher oxygen content in the overlying water, the higher content of DBP in the overlying water. The time when the concentration of DBP in overlying water reached the maximum was on the 8th day after flooding in the high oxygen and low oxygen studies, while the time was on the 12th day in natural study. When the phthalate-bis (2-ethylhexyl)-ester(DEHP) co-existed in the soil, there would be some significant influence on the release of DBP. After DEHP addition in the soil, it could release more DBP than the control, and both the rapid releasing rate and slow releasing rate were bigger than those of the control. The microbial activity had some impacts on the process. However, the effect was not obvious. After adding microbial activity inhibitor, the content of migrated DBP was slightly lower than that of the control.