Hydrogen Peroxide Decay in Waters with Suspended Soils: Evidence for Biologically Mediated Processes

Hydrogen peroxide decay studies have been conducted in suspensions of several well-characterized soils and in natural water samples. Kinetic and product studies indicated that the decay was biologically-mediated, and could be described by pseudo first-order rate expressions. At an initial H2O2 concentration of 0.5 μM, the hydrogen peroxide half-life varied from 1 to 8 h. The decay was inhibited by thermal and chemical sterilization of the soils. Peroxidase activity was inferred in several natural water samples, where the suspended particles catalyzed the oxidation of p-anisidine by hydrogen peroxide. The mass spectrum of the major reaction product indicated that it was the dimer, possibly benzoquinone-4-methoxyanil, a product that also was observed from the horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation of p-anisidine by hydrogen peroxide.