Fentonʹs type reaction and chemical pretreatment of PCBs

This study evaluates the effects of Fentonʹs reagent (FR) on the rate and extent of the oxidative degradation of individual mono, di-, tri- and tetrachlorobiphenyls in the commercial mixture DELOR 103, equivalent to AROCLOR 1248. The oxidation effect of FR strongly increased with increasing the molar ratio of Fe2+/H2O2. The most effective oxidation of DELOR 103 (10 μg.ml−1) was achieved in a solution containing 1M H2O2 and 1 mM Fe2+. The FR elimination rate constants of PCB congeners decrease with increasing number of chlorine substituents in the biphenyl molecule and show a good correlation with the values of molecular weights of the PCB congeners and their 1-octanol/water partition coefficients.