DISTRIBUTION OF CHLOROPHENOLICS IN A MARINE-ENVIRONMENT

The distribution of some chlorophenols, chloroguaiacols, and chlorocatechols, which were discharged from a sulfate pulp mill, were studied in the Gulf of Bothnia. These compounds were determined both in the water column and in the bulk sediments to understand their degradation pathways and accumulation patterns in the sea. Chloroform was used as a tracer to monitor the distribution and dilution of the effluent plume. The results lshowed that the transport of chlorophenolics was dominated by dilution and adsorption processes. Their behavior in the receiving water was correlated to the lipophilicity of the chlorophenolics, described by their partition coefficients in an octanol-water system (corrected for pH). A strong influence of bioactivity on the fate of chlorogauiacols and chlorocatechols was observed in sediments containing large amount of organic carbon.