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Quercus cerris is an important oak species extended in large areas of Eastern Europe and Minor Asia that has a thick bark which is not utilized at all. The sorption performance of cork from Quercus cerris bark with four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, and anthracene) was investigated. Quercus cerris cork was characterized for elemental analysis, acidic groups, and summative chemical composition, and the results were compared with Quercus suber cork. A Microtox® test was carried out to test for the release of any toxic compounds into the solution. All isotherms fit the Freundlich model and displayed linear n values. Quercus cerris exhibited a high efficiency for sorption of PAHs for the studied concentrations (5 to 50 µg/L) with 80-96% removal, while the desorption isotherms showed a very low release of the adsorbed PAHs (<2%). In relation to Quercus suber cork, KF values of Quercus cerris cork are about three times lower. The quantity of Quercus cerris cork required to reduce water pollution by PAHs was estimated to be less than twice the quantity of other adsorbents such as aspen wood and leonardite. Toxicity tests indicated that non-toxic compounds were released into the solution by the Quercus cerris and Quercus suber cork samples. Overall the results indicate the potential use of Quercus cerris cork and of Quercus suber cork as effective and economical biosorbents for the treatment of PAH-contaminated waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fourteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in surface waters and precipitation inputs to Lake Maggiore, a subalpine lake in Northern Italy, from July 2003 to January 2004. Particulate and dissolved phases in surface water and rain samples were determined. Analyses of PAHs were performed using XAD-2 resin to isolate the dissolved PAHs and subsequent extraction by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE). Both the dissolved and particulate phase PAH patterns in surface water and rainwater samples were dominated by the low molecular weight compounds (e.g., phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene). More than 85% of PAHs in surface waters and 72% of PAHs in rainwater were associated to the dissolved phase. The ΣPAH concentrations in surface waters (particulate and dissolved phases) were 0.584±0.033ngl−1, 2.9±0.312ngl−1 and in rainwater (particulate and dissolved phases) 27.5±2ngl−1, 75.4±9ngl−1, respectively. Temporal variability of PAH concentrations in rain and surface water samples were observed, with higher concentrations in November and December, coinciding with the largest precipitation amounts. The comparison of PAH signatures in rainwater and surface waters seems to indicate that wet deposition (2.5–41μg m−2 month−1) is the main source of PAH contamination into surface waters of Lake Maggiore. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]