In situ biodegradation of perchloroethylene in constructed wetland mesocosms
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Div.
Anaerobic reductive dehalogenation initiates degradation of highly chlorinated organic compounds. Subsequent intermediate chlorinated compounds are in turn more readily degraded in aerobic environments. Thus, complete degradation of chlorinated compounds to nontoxic end products requires both anaerobic and aerobic environments. These environments are provided by constructed wetland bioremediation systems, which through the interaction of vegetation, microbial, chemical, and physical processes, result in waste water renovation. The authors integrated the ecological engineering technology of constructed wetland systems with developments in plant-rhizosphere degradation of organic contaminants to examine the effectiveness of constructed wetland systems for in situ bioremediation of waste water contaminated with a chlorinated hydrocarbon, perchloroethylene (PCE) and an aromatic hydrocarbon, toluene. A mesocosm was designed to provide sequential anaerobic and vegetated-aerobic cells with complete control of water and gas flux and to emulate wetland properties such as hydric soil composition, physicochemical parameters, and the presence of wetland vegetation (Eleocharis acicularis). Treatments included contaminated and non-contaminated wetland cells and sterile controls. The fate and transport of PCE, toluene, and metabolic by-products were determined in effluent and chamber headspace, and extracts of soil and plant tissue. These analyses provide the basis for evaluating contaminant fate in wetland systems. Manipulation of aeration and hydrologic regimes in the wetland cells will facilitate testing conditions that affect degradation processes. The experimental apparatus is a innovative design for experimentation on the degradation of volatile organic compounds in plant-soil systems.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 31755
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410273-; TRN: IM9517%%50
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 15. annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Denver, CO (United States), 30 Oct - 3 Nov 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 15th annual meeting: Abstract book. Ecological risk: Science, policy, law, and perception; PB: 286 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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