Abstract
Groundwater contamination characteristics and the potential fate of chlorohydrocarbons were investigated at a combined polluted groundwater site in North China. Groundwater chemistry and 2D and 18O isotope compositions indicated that high salination of groundwater was related with chemical pollution. The elevated salinity plume was consistent with the domain where typical chlorohydrocarbon contaminants occurred. The concentrations of heavy metals, oxidation–reduction potential, and pH in organic polluted areas significantly differed from those in peripheral (background) areas, indicating modified hydrochemistry possibly resulting from organic pollution. Under the presented redox conditions of groundwater, monochlorobenzene oxidation may have occurred when the trichlorohydrocarbons underwent reductive dechlorination. These findings suggested that inorganic hydrochemistry effectively indicated the occurrence of chemical contamination in groundwater and the potential fate of chlorohydrocarbons.
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Acknowledgments
This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41302187), China Post-doctoral Science Foundation (2014M552105), the Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (SK201303, SK201412), and the Chinese Geological Survey (12120113102700).
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Huang, Sb., Han, Zt., Zhao, L. et al. Hydrochemistry Indicating Groundwater Contamination and the Potential Fate of Chlorohydrocarbons in Combined Polluted Groundwater: A Case Study at a Contamination Site in North China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 94, 589–597 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1513-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1513-9