Partitioning of semi-volatile organic compounds to the air/water interface

Partition coefficients (Kia, m3m−2) for sorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and n-alkanes at the air/water interface were estimated by extrapolating quartz/gas sorption data to relative humidity (RH) values of 100%. For each compound class, the log Kia values were found to be well correlated with log pLo where pLo (Torr) is the vapor pressure of the pure subcooled liquid. For the PAHs, correlation equation is log Kia = −1.20 logpLo − 5.82 (R2 = 0.98). For the n-alkanes, the correlation equation is log Kia = −0.93 log pLo − 4.42 (R2 = 0.95).