Intrinsic potential for immediate biodegradation of toluene in a pristine, energy-limited aquifer

Pilot-scale experimental study on the enhanced natural attenuation of complex organic contaminants based on the recharge of electron acceptors

Anaerobic biodegradation plays a crucial role in attenuating organic contaminants in natural aquifers, where the concentration and type of electron acceptors directly determine the stages and rates of degradation progress. In this study, nitrate depletion was monitored in a simulated pilot-scale aquifer contaminated with toluene and trichloroethylene, while sulfate became the new periodic electron acceptor, accompanied by a decrease in the contaminant attenuation rate. Consequently, nitrate was injected into the contaminated plume in stages, and the hydro- and biochemical impacts were further monitored. The results revealed that the active recharge of nitrate became a new electron donor involved in anaerobic reduction processes, with contaminants attenuation rates increased by 2.48-3.88 times compared with that before injection. Moreover, the active recharge of nitrate inhibited further consumption of sulfate and oxidized pre-existing sulfides, which reduced the biological toxicity of the aquatic environment and provided favorable conditions for the growth of nitrate-reducing microorganisms. This study evaluated the enhancement of natural attenuation by recharging nitrate as an electron acceptor, providing a theoretical basis for environmentally friendly and economic remediation of petroleum-contaminated aquifers.

Co-migration behavior of toluene coupled with trichloroethylene and the response of the pristine groundwater ecosystems - A mesoscale indoor experiment

Experimental scale and sampling precision are the main factors limiting the accuracy of migration and transformation assessments of complex petroleum-based contaminants in groundwater. In this study, a mesoscale indoor aquifer device with high environmental fidelity and monitoring accuracy was constructed, in which dissolved toluene and trichloroethylene were used as typical contaminants in a 1.5-year contaminant migration experiment. The process was divided into five stages, namely, pristine, injection, accumulation, decrease, and recovery, and characteristics such as differences in contaminant migration, the responsiveness of environmental factors, and changes in microbial communities were investigated. The results demonstrated that the mutual dissolution properties of the contaminants increased the spread of the plume and confirmed that toluene possessed greater mobility and natural attenuation than trichloroethylene. Attenuation of the contaminant plume proceeded through aerobic degradation, nitrate reduction, and sulfate reduction phases, accompanied by negative feedback from characteristic ion concentrations, dissolved oxygen content, the oxidation-reduction potential and microbial community structure of the groundwater. This research evaluated the migration and transformation characteristics of typical petroleum-based pollutants, revealed the response mechanism of the ecosystem to pollutant, provided a theoretical basis for predicting pollutant migration and formulating control strategies.

Machine Learning Modeling Based on Microbial Community for Prediction of Natural Attenuation in Groundwater

Natural attenuation is widely adopted as a remediation strategy, and the attenuation potential is crucial to evaluate whether remediation goals can be achieved within the specified time. In this work, long-term monitoring of indigenous microbial communities as well as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) and chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) in groundwater was conducted at a historic pesticide manufacturing site. A machine learning approach for natural attenuation prediction was developed with random forest classification (RFC) followed by either random forest regression (RFR) or artificial neural networks (ANNs), utilizing microbiological information and contaminant attenuation rates for model training and cross-validation. Results showed that the RFC could accurately predict the feasibility of natural attenuation for both BTEX and CAHs, and it could successfully identify the key genera. The RFR model was sufficient for the BTEX natural attenuation rate prediction but unreliable for CAHs. The ANN model showed better performance in the prediction of the attenuation rates for both BTEX and CAHs. Based on the assessments, a composite modeling method of RFC and ANN was proposed, which could reduce the mean absolute percentage errors. This study reveals that the combined machine learning approach under the synergistic use of field microbial data has promising potential for predicting natural attenuation.

Linkage Between Dissolved Organic Matter Transformation, Bacterial Carbon Production, and Diversity in a Shallow Oligotrophic Aquifer: Results From Flow-Through Sediment Microcosm Experiments

Aquifers are important reservoirs for organic carbon. A fundamental understanding of the role of groundwater ecosystems in carbon cycling, however, is still missing. Using sediment flow-through microcosms, long-term (171d) experiments were conducted to test two scenarios. First, aquifer sediment microbial communities received dissolved organic matter (DOM) at low concentration and typical to groundwater in terms of composition (DOM-1x). Second, sediments received an elevated concentration of DOM originating from soil (DOM-5x). Changes in DOM composition were analyzed via NMR and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS). Carbon production, physiological adaptations and biodiversity of groundwater, and sediment prokaryotic communities were monitored by total cell counts, substrate use arrays, and deep amplicon sequencing. The experiments showed that groundwater microbial communities do not react very fast to the sudden availability of labile organic carbon from soil in terms of carbon degradation and biomass production. It took days to weeks for incoming DOM being efficiently degraded and pronounced cell production occurred. Once conditioned, the DOM-1x supplied sediments mineralized 294(±230) μgC L⁻¹_sed d⁻¹, 10-times less than the DOM-5x fed sediment communities [2.9(±1.1) mgC L⁻¹_sed d⁻¹]. However, the overall biomass carbon production was hardly different in the two treatments with 13.7(±4.8) μgC L⁻¹_sed d⁻¹ and 14.3(±3.5) μgC L⁻¹_sed d⁻¹, respectively, hinting at a significantly lower carbon use efficiency with higher DOM availability. However, the molecularly more diverse DOM from soil fostered a higher bacterial diversity. Taking the irregular inputs of labile DOM into account, shallow aquifers are assumed to have a low resilience. Lacking a highly active and responsive microbial community, oligotrophic aquifers are at high risk of contamination with organic chemicals.

Contaminant concentration versus flow velocity: drivers of biodegradation and microbial growth in groundwater model systems

Aromatic hydrocarbons belong to the most abundant contaminants in groundwater systems. They can serve as carbon and energy source for a multitude of indigenous microorganisms. Predictions of contaminant biodegradation and microbial growth in contaminated aquifers are often vague because the parameters of microbial activity in the mathematical models used for predictions are typically derived from batch experiments, which don’t represent conditions in the field. In order to improve our understanding of key drivers of natural attenuation and the accuracy of predictive models, we conducted comparative experiments in batch and sediment flow-through systems with varying concentrations of contaminant in the inflow and flow velocities applying the aerobic Pseudomonas putida strain F1 and the denitrifying Aromatoleum aromaticum strain EbN1. We followed toluene degradation and bacterial growth by measuring toluene and oxygen concentrations and by direct cell counts. In the sediment columns, the total amount of toluene degraded by P. putida F1 increased with increasing source concentration and flow velocity, while toluene removal efficiency gradually decreased. Results point at mass transfer limitation being an important process controlling toluene biodegradation that cannot be assessed with batch experiments. We also observed a decrease in the maximum specific growth rate with increasing source concentration and flow velocity. At low toluene concentrations, the efficiencies in carbon assimilation within the flow-through systems exceeded those in the batch systems. In all column experiments the number of attached cells plateaued after an initial growth phase indicating a specific “carrying capacity” depending on contaminant concentration and flow velocity. Moreover, in all cases, cells attached to the sediment dominated over those in suspension, and toluene degradation was performed practically by attached cells only. The observed effects of varying contaminant inflow concentration and flow velocity on biodegradation could be captured by a reactive-transport model. By monitoring both attached and suspended cells we could quantify the release of new-grown cells from the sediments to the mobile aqueous phase. Studying flow velocity and contaminant concentrations as key drivers of contaminant transformation in sediment flow-through microcosms improves our system understanding and eventually the prediction of microbial biodegradation at contaminated sites.

Response and recovery of a pristine groundwater ecosystem impacted by toluene contamination - A meso-scale indoor aquifer experiment

Microbial communities are the driving force behind the degradation of contaminants like aromatic hydrocarbons in groundwater ecosystems. However, little is known about the response of native microbial communities to contamination in pristine environments as well as their potential to recover from a contamination event. Here, we used an indoor aquifer mesocosm filled with sandy quaternary calciferous sediment that was continuously fed with pristine groundwater to study the response, resistance and resilience of microbial communities to toluene contamination over a period of almost two years, comprising 132days of toluene exposure followed by nearly 600days of recovery. We observed an unexpectedly high intrinsic potential for toluene degradation, starting within the first two weeks after the first exposure. The contamination led to a shift from oxic to anoxic, primarily nitrate-reducing conditions as well as marked cell growth inside the contaminant plume. Depth-resolved community fingerprinting revealed a low resistance of the native microbial community to the perturbation induced by the exposure to toluene. Distinct populations that were dominated by a small number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) rapidly emerged inside the plume and at the plume fringes, partially replacing the original community. During the recovery period physico-chemical conditions were restored to the pristine state within about 35days, whereas the recovery of the biological parameters was much slower and the community composition inside the former plume area had not recovered to the original state by the end of the experiment. These results demonstrate the low resilience of sediment-associated groundwater microbial communities to organic pollution and underline that recovery of groundwater ecosystems cannot be assessed solely by physico-chemical parameters.

Compound-Specific Stable Isotope Fractionation of Pesticides and Pharmaceuticals in a Mesoscale Aquifer Model

Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) receives increasing interest for its ability to detect natural degradation of pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Despite recent laboratory studies, CSIA investigations of such micropollutants in the environment are still rare. To explore the certainty of information obtainable by CSIA in a near-environmental setting, a pulse of the pesticide bentazone, the pesticide metabolite 2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM), and the pharmaceuticals diclofenac and ibuprofen was released into a mesoscale aquifer with quasi-two-dimensional flow. Concentration breakthrough curves (BTC) of BAM and ibuprofen demonstrated neither degradation nor sorption. Bentazone was transformed but did not sorb significantly, whereas diclofenac showed both degradation and sorption. Carbon and nitrogen CSIA could be accomplished in similar concentrations as for "traditional" priority pollutants (low μg/L range), however, at the cost of uncertainties (0.4-0.5‰ (carbon), 1‰ (nitrogen)). Nonetheless, invariant carbon and nitrogen isotope values confirmed that BAM was neither degraded nor sorbed, while significant enrichment of (13)C and in particular (15)N corroborated transformation of diclofenac and bentazone. Retardation of diclofenac was reflected in additional (15)N sorption isotope effects, whereas isotope fractionation of transverse dispersion could not be identified. These results provide a benchmark on the performance of CSIA to monitor the reactivity of micropollutants in aquifers and may guide future efforts to accomplish CSIA at even lower concentrations (ng/L range).

Separation‐Free Polyaniline/TiO2 3D Hydrogel with High Photocatalytic Activity

A polyaniline (PANI) hydrogel with 3D network nanostructure is synthesized by polymerizing aniline. TiO2 nanoparticles are located onto the 3D matrix of the PANI hydrogel. This PANI/TiO2 composite 3D hydrogel is efficient in removing organic contaminants owing to the synergistic effect of adsorption‐enrichment and the succedent in situ photocatalytic degradation. In this process, organic contaminant is first adsorbed and enriched onto the surface of the TiO2 nanoparticles through 3D network nanostructure of PANI hydrogel. The organic contaminant is then in situ degraded. The 3D network structured PANI/TiO2 composite hydrogel has the advantage of high reactivity in nano‐sized materials and possesses the characteristics of separation‐free in bulk materials, indicating that the composite hydrogel is ease of recycling. Overall, this work provides new insights into the fabrication of hydrogel‐based nanocomposite materials and facilitates their potential application for the synergistic removal of various aquatic pollutants in the field of water purification.

Occurrence of volatile organic compounds in shallow alluvial aquifers of a Mediterranean region: Baseline scenario and ecological implications

A regional survey of eight volatile organic compounds (VOCs), namely BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and p-xylene) and four chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs: chloroform, 1,2-dichloroethane, trichloroethene and tetrachloroethene), was carried out at 174 sites, in 17 alluvial aquifers of Abruzzo, a Mediterranean region of southern Italy, from 2004 to 2009. Frequency of detection, concentration range, spatial distribution pattern, and temporal trend of contaminant concentration in each aquifer were analyzed as well as the relationships between VOC concentrations and the total amount of precipitation during the 90days preceding each sampling date. A review of published ecotoxicological data, providing an indication of the biological risk associated with the observed levels of VOC contamination, was presented and discussed. BTEX concentrations were under detection limits in all the investigated aquifers, indicating absence of contamination. In contrast, CAH contamination occurred in 14 out of 17 aquifers. The two most frequently detected compounds were chloroform and tetrachloroethene. No significant temporal trend was observed for chloroform and tetrachloroethene concentrations during the six years of observation, indicating the persistence of stable contaminations, except for some slightly decreasing trends observed in three out of 17 aquifers. In four aquifers chloroform and tetrachloroethene concentrations increased with precipitations in the preceding months. Spatial patterns of contamination differed among aquifers, indicating highly complex contaminant distributions at aquifer scale not related to single-plume geometries. Patterns of contamination by chloroform and tetrachloroethene in the most urbanized aquifers were likely associated with multiple sources of VOCs not clearly detectable at the scale used in this study. In five out of 17 aquifers, chloroform and tetrachloroethene co-occurred at concentrations that are lethal to groundwater-dwelling organisms under a short exposure period (four days). Future studies should therefore consider the possibility that in the other aquifers groundwater-dwelling organisms might be physiologically damaged by sublethal VOC concentrations.

Biodegradation: Updating the concepts of control for microbial cleanup in contaminated aquifers

Biodegradation is one of the most favored and sustainable means of removing organic pollutants from contaminated aquifers but the major steering factors are still surprisingly poorly understood. Growing evidence questions some of the established concepts for control of biodegradation. Here, we critically discuss classical concepts such as the thermodynamic redox zonation, or the use of steady state transport scenarios for assessing biodegradation rates. Furthermore, we discuss if the absence of specific degrader populations can explain poor biodegradation. We propose updated perspectives on the controls of biodegradation in contaminant plumes. These include the plume fringe concept, transport limitations, and transient conditions as currently underestimated processes affecting biodegradation.