For the first time, an expansive study into the concentration and extended decay behavior of environmentally persistent free radicals in PM2.5 was performed. Results from this study revealed three types of radical decay—a fast decay, slow decay, and no decay—following one of four decay patterns: a relatively fast decay exhibiting a 1/e lifetime of 1–21 days accompanied by a slow decay with a 1/e lifetime of 21–5028 days (47% of samples); a single slow decay including a 1/e lifetime of 4–2083 days (24% of samples); no decay (18% of samples); and a relatively fast decay displaying an average 1/e lifetime of 0.25–21 days followed by no decay (11% of samples). Phenol correlated well with the initial radical concentration and fast decay rate. Other correlations for common atmospheric pollutants (ozone, NOx, SO2, etc.) as well as meteorological conditions suggested photochemical processes impact the initial radical concentration and fast decay rate. The radical signal in PM2.5 was remarkably similar to semiquinones in cigarette smoke. Accordingly, radicals inhaled from PM2.5 were related to the radicals inhaled from smoking cigarettes, expressed as the number of equivalent cigarettes smoked. This calculated to 0.4–0.9 cigarettes per day for nonextreme air quality in the United States.

Hydroxyl radicals were generated from an aqueous suspension of ambient PM2.5 and detected utilizing 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO) as a spin trap coupled with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Results from this study suggested the importance of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) in PM2.5 to generate significant levels of ·OH without the addition of H2O2. Particles for which the EPFRs were allowed to decay over time induced less hydroxyl radical. Additionally, higher particle concentrations produced more hydroxyl radical. Some samples did not alter hydroxyl radical generation when the solution was purged by air. This is ascribed to internal, rather than external surface associated EPFRs.

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) have previously been observed in association with combustion-generated particles and airborne PM2.5 (particulate matter, d < 2.5um). The purpose of this study was to determine if similar radicals were present in soils and sediments at Superfund sites. The site was a former wood treating facility containing pentachlorophenol (PCP) as a major contaminant. Both contaminated and non-contaminated (just outside the contaminated area) soil samples were collected. The samples were subjected to the conventional humic substances (HS) extraction procedure. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to measure the EPFR concentrations and determine their structure for each sample fraction. Analyses revealed a ~30× higher EPFR concentration in the PCP contaminated soils (20.2 × 1017 spins/g) than in the non-contaminated soil (0.7 × 1017 spins/g). Almost 90% of the EPFR signal originated from the Minerals/Clays/Humins fraction. GC-MS analyses revealed ~6500 ppm of PCP in the contaminated soil samples and none detected in the background samples. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrophotometry (ICP-AES) analyses revealed ~7× higher concentrations of redox-active transition metals, in the contaminated soils than the non-contaminated soil. Vapor phase and liquid phase dosing of the clays/minerals/humins fraction of the soil with PCP resulted in an EPR signal identical to that observed in the contaminated soil, strongly suggesting the observed EPFR is pentachlorophenoxyl radical. Chemisorption and electron transfer from PCP to transition metals and other electron sinks in the soil are proposed to be responsible for EPFR formation.

The kinetics of the reaction of hydroxyl radicals with chlorobenzene was studied experimentally using a pulsed laser photolysis/pulsed laser induced fluorescence technique over a wide range of temperatures, 298-670 K, and at pressures between 13.33 and 39.92 kPa. The bimolecular rate constants demonstrate different behavior at low and high temperatures. At room temperature, T = 298.8±1.5 K, the rate constant is equal to (6.02 ± 0.34)×10-13 cm3 molecule-1 s-1; at high temperatures (474 - 670 K), the rate constant values are significantly lower and have a positive temperature dependence that can be described by an Arrhenius expression k1(T ) = (1.01 ± 0.35)×10-11 exp[(-2490 ± 170 K)/T] cm3 molecule-1 s-1. This behavior is consistent with the low-temperature reaction being dominated by reversible addition and the high-temperature reaction representing abstraction and addition-elimination channels. The potential energy surface of the reaction was studied using quantum chemical methods and a transition state theory model was developed for all reaction channels. The temperature dependences of the high-temperature rate constants obtained in calculations using the method of isodesmic reactions for transition states (IRTS) and the CBS-QB3 method are in very good agreement with experiment, with deviations smaller than the estimated experimental uncertainties. The G3//B3LYP-based calculated rate constants are in disagreement with the experimental values. The IRTS-based model was used to provide modified Arrhenius expressions for the temperature dependences of the rate constant for the abstraction and addition-elimination (Cl replacement) channels of the reaction.