Removal Efficiency of Defatted Seed for Organochlorine Compounds

*To whom correspondence should be addressed: Department of Hygienic Sciences, Kobe Pharmaceutical University, Motoyamakitamachi 4-chome, Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658– 8558, Japan. Tel.: +81-78-441-7564; Fax: +81-78-441-7565; E-mail: [email protected] Defatted seeds effectively adsorbed organochlorine compounds such as chloroform, dichloromethane and trichloroethylene. The amounts of these compounds adsorbed was plotted against the equilibrium concentration of substances in solution on a logarithmic scale. A linear relationship was obtained, indicating that the adsorption reactions were Freundlich type. The adsorption of these compounds by defatted seed was observed over the range of pH 1-11. Chloroform was successfully removed from tap water with an average removal efficiency of 70% after 60 min when rapeseed was added to tap water that contained 0.0073 mg/l chloroform. The removal of these organochlorine compounds by defatted seed was attributed to the uptake by intracellular particles called spherosomes.