Transformation of 14C-labelled 1,2-dichloropropane in water-saturated subsoil materials

Abstract

The transformation of [1- 14C]-1,2-dichloropropane in three water-saturated sandy subsoil materials (sampled at a depth of between 1.2 and 2.3 m) was studied in laboratory incubations at 10 °C. In the first material (methanogenic with a redox potential of 0.0–0.2 V and a pH of 7) no measurable transformation took place during the first 156 days but after 608 and 712 days more than 96% of the dose had been transformed into one or more highly volatile products. Analysis of the headspace above this subsoil material after 1059 days indicated that propene and propane are probably transformation products and excluded chlorinated hydrocarbons with one, two or three C atoms as significant transformation products. In the two other subsoil materials (with redox potentials of 0.0–0.4 V and 0.3–0.6 V and pH values between 4 and 5) no measurable transformation took place during the whole incubation period (1056 days).