Measurements on water containing dissolved and suspended matter from natural sediments

The presence of dissolved and suspended matter (DSM), originating from three different natural sediments, was measured as dry weight concentrations (DW), dissolved organic carbon concentrations (DOC) and enhanced concentrations of three chlorobenzenes. The latter were measured in a recently developed method, in which the water containing DSM is contaminated with the chemicals by air in an air-bridge system. This method appears to be suitable for measuring enhanced concentrations in suspension water of relatively volatile compounds. DW and DOC concentrations and enhanced concentrations vary considerably between the three sediments. Moreover, the results are not in parallel, i.e. enhanced concentrations cannot be predicted by DW or DOC of the suspension water. This implies that neither DW nor DOC give a good description of the influence of DSM on the sorption behaviour of chemicals in water.