Assessment of aerobic biodegradation of lower-chlorinated benzenes in contaminated groundwater using field-derived microcosms and compound-specific carbon isotope fractionation

Biodegradation of lower chlorinated benzenes (tri-, di- and monochlorobenzene) was assessed at a coastal aquifer contaminated with multiple chlorinated aromatic hydro- carbons. Field-derived microcosms, established with groundwater from the source zone and amended with a mixture of lower chlorinated...

ver descrição completa

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Trueba-Santiso, Alba, Palau, Jordi, Soder-Walz, Jesica M., Vicent, Teresa, Marco-Urrea, E.
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Data de publicação:2022
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositório:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/184191
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/184191
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Biodegradació
Circulació d'aigües subterrànies
Bioremediació
Geoquímica
Biodegradation
Groundwater flow
Bioremediation
Geochemistry
Descrição
Resumo:Biodegradation of lower chlorinated benzenes (tri-, di- and monochlorobenzene) was assessed at a coastal aquifer contaminated with multiple chlorinated aromatic hydro- carbons. Field-derived microcosms, established with groundwater from the source zone and amended with a mixture of lower chlorinated benzenes, evidenced biodegradation of monochlorobenzene (MCB) and 1,4-dichlorobenzene (1,4-DCB) in aerobic microcosms, whereas the addition of lactate in anaerobic microcosms did not enhance anaerobic reduc- tive dechlorination. Aerobic microcosms established with groundwater from the plume consumed several doses of MCB and concomitantly degraded the three isomers of dichloroben- zene with no observable inhibitory effect. In the light of these results, we assessed the applicability of compound stable isotope analysis to monitor a potential aerobic remediation treatment of MCB and 1,4-DCB in this site. The carbon isotopic fractionation factors ( ε) obtained from field-derived microcosms were -0.7 ¿ ± 0.1 ¿ and -1.0 ¿ ± 0.2 ¿ for MCB and 1,4-DCB, respectively. For 1,4-DCB, the carbon isotope fractionation during aerobic biodegra- dation was reported for the first time. The weak carbon isotope fractionation values for the aerobic pathway would only allow tracing of in situ degradation in aquifer parts with high extent of biodegradation. However, based on the carbon isotope effects measured in this and previous studies, relatively high carbon isotope shifts (i.e., δ13 C > 4.0 ¿ ) of MCB or 1,4- DCB in contaminated groundwater would suggest that their biodegradation is controlled by anaerobic reductive dechlorination.