Dechlorination of DDT, DDD and DDE in soil (slurry) phase using magnesium/palladium system

Abstract

Mg0/Pd4+ was able to dechlorinate >99% of extractable DDT (initial concentration of 10 mg DDT kg−1 of soil) and >90% of extractable DDT (initial concentration of 50 mg DDT kg−1 of soil) in soil slurry. Mg0/Pd4+ was also found to be effective in dechlorinating of 50 mg kg−1 DDD and DDE, in soil aged for varying time periods. GC-MS analyses revealed the formation of 1,1-diphenylethane as an end product from DDT, DDE and DDD. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report describing the application Mg0/Pd4+ system for remediation of DDT, DDD and DDE contaminated soil. We conclude that reductive dechlorination reaction catalyzed by Mg0/Pd4+ may be a promising system to remediate soil contaminated with DDT and its dechlorinated products such as DDD and DDE.