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Fate and behavior of organic compounds in an artificial saturated subsoil under controlled redox conditions: The sequential soil column system

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Abstract

A system was developed to investigate the fate and behavior of anthropogenic organic contaminants at concentrations present in polluted subsoils and aquifers. A sequential soil column system was constructed to simulate redox conditions from methanogenic, sulfate-reducing, denitrifying, to aerobic conditions which normally occur in a leachate pollution plume. This system allowed the simulation of subsurface pollution with a range of xenobiotics and the observation of the microbial response to this contamination. After an adaptation period of up to about 7 months, 2,4-dichlorophenol and 2-nitrophenol were eliminated and perchloroethene disappeared almost completely in the methanogenic column. Toluene was partially transformed under sulfate-reducing conditions, and nearly completely in the nitrate-reducing column. The same applied to naphthalene under denitrifying and aerobic conditions. Aerobically, a fraction of benzene was transformed, and 1,4-dichlorobenzene decreased to very low residual concentrations in one system. No significant transformation of 1,1-dichloroethene could be seen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology, Überlandstr. 133, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland

    Michael Nay, Alexander J. B. Snozzi & Alexander J. B. Zehnder

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  1. Michael Nay
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  2. Alexander J. B. Snozzi
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  3. Alexander J. B. Zehnder
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Nay, M., Snozzi, A.J.B. & Zehnder, A.J.B. Fate and behavior of organic compounds in an artificial saturated subsoil under controlled redox conditions: The sequential soil column system. Biodegradation 10, 75–82 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008321917025

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