PRELIMINARY-STUDY ON DEGRADATION OF IONIC ALKYLLEAD SPECIES IN WATER

Laboratory experiments are reported, aimed at monitoring the degradation of ionic alkyllead compounds in water in the dark, in daylight and with UV irradiation. A stepwise dealkylation in aqueous media is not supported by the simulations. It appears that trialkyllead (triAL) degradation does not give rise to appreciable formation of dialkyllead (diAL) but directly yields inorganic lead; on the other hand, dialkyllead species appear too stable to be involved as short-lived intermediates. Generally ethyllead compounds are observed to be more sensitive towards degradation than the corresponding methyllead compounds. The results are consistent with existing literature evidence. © 1992, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.