Carbon Isotope Fractionation during Anaerobic Biodegradation of Toluene: Implications for Intrinsic Bioremediation
Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2000 papers
Abstract
Carbon isotope fractionation produced by anaerobic biodegradation of toluene was evaluated in laboratory experiments under both methanogenic and sulfate-reducing conditions. A small (∼2‰) but highly reproducible 13C-enrichment in the residual toluene at advanced stages of microbial transformation was observed in both cultures. The maximum isotopic enrichment observed in the residual toluene was +2.0‰ and +2.4‰ for the methanogenic and sulfate-reducing cultures, respectively, corresponding to isotopic enrichment factors (ε) of −0.5 and −0.8. Because the accuracy and reproducibility associated with gas chromatograph−combustion−isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) is ±0.5‰, delineating which of these two terminal electron-accepting processes (TEAP) is responsible for the biodegradation of toluene at field sites will not be possible. However, the potential does exist to use compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA), in conjunction with other methodologies, as a means of validating advanced stages of intrinsic bioremediation in anaerobic systems. Caution is urged that relating this small (∼2‰) fractionation to biodegradation at complex field sites will prove a challenge.
Related Papers
- → Ion-exchange fractionation of copper and zinc isotopes(2002)254 cited
- → Equilibrium Fe isotope fractionation between inorganic aqueous Fe(III) and the siderophore complex, Fe(III)-desferrioxamine B(2008)132 cited
- → Calcium isotope fractionation between aqueous compounds relevant to low-temperature geochemistry, biology and medicine(2017)49 cited
- → Impact of cell density on microbially induced stable isotope fractionation(2008)36 cited
- → Evaporation-induced copper isotope fractionation: Insights from laser levitation experiments(2021)27 cited