Environmental Persistent Free Radicals in highly polluted soils and the association with polycyclic aromatic compounds

• Published in: Environmental research 2024-12, Vol.262 (Pt 1), p.119853, Article 119853
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yongqiang, Zhou, Yousong, Wang, Hanchen, Xiao, Kai, Luo, Zhihan, Li, Yaojie, Xing, Ran, Jiang, Ke, Fu, Donglei, Liu, Wenxin, Tao, Shu, Shen, Guofeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Environmental Monitoring; EPFRs; Free Radicals - analysis; Free Radicals - chemistry; Industrial soils; PAHs; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons - analysis; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons - chemistry; Soil - chemistry; Soil organic matters; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soil Pollutants - chemistry
• ISSN: 0013-9351; 1096-0953; 1096-0953
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.119853

Environmental persistent free radicals (EPFRs), as emerging contaminants in environment, can induce oxidative stress causing severe adverse health outcomes. The formation of EPFRs is thought to be associated with the transformation of aromatic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Herein this study firstly evaluated EPFRs in industrial soils being highly polluted by PAHs, and explored its associated with PAHs, with the modification of soil organic matter content. Soil EPFRs from two industrial plants were 4.1 × 1016 and 4.5 × 1016 spins/g, respectively, that were significantly higher than the levels in the surrounding areas. Carbon-centered EPFRs account for approximately 80% inside the plant, but outside the plants, nearly 50–70% of EPFRs were carbon-centered with adjacent heteroatoms. As one important precursor of EPFRs, PAHs exhibited a significantly positive correlation with EPFRs in industrial soils (p