The Fate of Spent Bleach Liquor Material in Receiving Waters: Characterization of Chloroorganics in Sediments

Sediments collected at various distances from pulp mills producing bleached chemical pulp were characterized with respect to the presence of chlorinated material extractable by hexane/isopropanol. Also the presence of chlorinated high molecular weight material from spent bleach liquors was investigated by oxidative degradation. The results show that the major part of the hexane/isopropanol soluble material in sediments differs from that in spent bleach liquors. This suggests that this material originates from sources other than spent bleach liquors or is formed by chemical and/or biological transformations of such material. However, the sediments do contain small quantities of chlorinated phenolic compounds and high molecular weight material originating from spent bleach liquors.