Bacteria that degrade natural organic matter in groundwater contain oxygenase enzymes that can co‐oxidize trichloroethene (TCE). This degradation pathway is promising for large dilute plumes, but its evaluation is limited because the density of the bacteria with oxygenase enzymes has not been correlated to field scale rates of degradation. A 14C–TCE assay was developed to determine pseudo first‐order rate constants for the aerobic co‐oxidation of TCE in groundwater. The assay involved incubating 14C–TCE in samples of groundwater contained in 160 mL serum bottles, and monitoring the accumulation of radiolabel in degradation products. A first‐order rate constant for co‐oxidation was extracted from the rate of accumulation of 14C in products, accounting for volumetric changes in the serum bottles due to sampling and subsequent changes to the distribution of TCE between the aqueous and gaseous phases. Of the groundwater samples evaluated from 19 wells at five sites, eight samples at three sites had 14C product accumulation rates that exceeded the accumulation rate in filter‐sterilized groundwater controls. First‐order rate constants ranged from 2.65 to 0.0066 year−1, which is equivalent to half‐lives of 0.26 to 105 years. Groundwater samples from a few of the wells in which co‐oxidation occurred had volatile organic contaminants in addition to TCE; their presence may have induced the oxygenase enzymes that are needed for TCE co‐oxidation. 14CO2 represented ~37% to 97% of the 14C products that accumulated; the balance of the products was soluble and non‐volatile.
Magnetite is a natural component of many aquifers. Abiotic degradation of chlorinated solvents by magnetite can be an important mechanism for natural attenuation of these contaminants. The quantity of magnetite in aquifer materials can be estimated by measuring the magnetic susceptibility of the materials. This is most commonly done by determining the magnetic susceptibility of core samples in an analytical laboratory using a magnetic susceptibility meter. Unfortunately, the cost of acquiring core samples often makes an evaluation of abiotic degradation by magnetite economically unrealistic. Downhole sondes (probes) are available for the determination of magnetic susceptibility. In this study, a downhole sonde was evaluated as an affordable alternative to acquiring and analyzing core samples. The sonde was introduced into 10 monitoring wells. The data from the sonde were then compared to data from core samples that were collected from the same elevation as the sonde data. The core samples analyzed in the laboratory were used as the standard against which the sonde data were compared. The downhole sonde reported values that were similar to values reported on core samples. At most wells, the means of the two measurements could not be distinguished at the 95% confidence interval. When the means could be distinguished, they still agreed within a factor of two.
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