Transport and biodegradation of toluene in unsaturated soil

Abstract

Degradation of volatile organic chemicals during transport has received little attention in the past. In this study we report the results of a series of experiments on toluene movement through soil columns of different length in sterilized, pre-exposed and unexposed soil. Toluene was added to 25-cm-diameter soil columns through an inlet chamber that maintained a constant concentration throughout the experiment. The toluene diffused through the soil to an outlet chamber at the top which was continuously swept with humidified air and samples were periodically analysed to determine toluene flux. The first experiment, conducted under sterilized conditions, was used to measure the soil gas diffusion coefficient, and subsequent experiments in which biodegradation occurred were used to estimate the degradation rate coefficient by fitting the outflow to a mathematical model. The degradation rate was very rapid under both pre-exposed and unexposed soil conditions, corresponding to a half-life of ∼ 2 h when bacterial activity reached high levels. Prior to this stage, the volatilization flux was very erratic, implying that growth rates of the bacteria were out of phase with the transport process. Overall, the degradation process was not well described by a first-order model until the population stabilized. Pre-exposure of the soil to the substrate prior to the transport experiment greatly increased the rate of removal of toluene during transport. Under such conditions, a 30-cm cover could virtually stop volatization losses of the compound when the inlet concentration was well below saturation, and could decrease it by a factor of ⩾30 even when the inlet concentration was saturated.