Investigation on the role of ·OH for BPA removal in coastal sediments: The important mediation of low reactivity Fe(II)

Bisphenol A (BPA) in seawater tends to be deposited in coastal sediments. However, its degradation under tidal oscillations has not been explored comprehensively. Hydroxyl radicals (·OH) can be generated through Fe cycling under redox oscillations, which have a strong oxidizing capacity. This study focused on the contribution of Fe-mediated production of ·OH in BPA degradation under darkness. The removal of BPA was investigated by reoxygenating six natural coastal sediments, and three redox cycles were applied to prove the sustainability of the process. The importance of low reactivity Fe(II) in the production of ·OH was investigated, specifically, Fe(II) with carbonate and Fe(II) within goethite, hematite and magnetite. The degradation efficiency of BPA during reoxygenation of sediments was 76.78–94.82%, and the contribution of ·OH ranged from 36.74% to 74.51%. The path coefficient of ·OH on BPA degradation reached 0.6985 and the indirect effect of low reactivity Fe(II) on BPA degradation by mediating ·OH production reached 0.5240 obtained via partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM). This study emphasizes the importance of low reactivity Fe(II) in ·OH production and provides a new perspective for the role of tidal-induced ·OH on the fate of refractory organic pollutants under darkness.