Influence of Phase Transitions on the Mobility of Organic Pollutants in Synthetic and Natural Polymers

1. Introduction 1. Introduction Transport and availability of organic pollutants in soils, sediments and aquifers are closely related to the interactions of these compounds with the natural organic polymers (so-called soil organic matter [SOM], e.g. humic substances) present in these media. Contaminants may be either immobilized and retarded (and sometimes conserved for decades [1]) or transported by dissolved organic matter. The mechanistic insight and the quantitative description of these (often not completely understood) processes have a crucial significance for the fate of these chemicals in the environment and for remediation tasks.