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Bioavailability of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants: Effects and Implications of Sorption‐Related Mass Transfer on Bioremediation
Author(s) -
Zhang Weixian,
Bouwer Edward J.,
Ball William P.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
groundwater monitoring and remediation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-6592
pISSN - 1069-3629
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6592.1998.tb00609.x
Subject(s) - sorption , bioremediation , bioavailability , biodegradation , environmental chemistry , environmental remediation , desorption , context (archaeology) , chemistry , mass transfer , environmental science , contamination , chromatography , organic chemistry , adsorption , ecology , geology , bioinformatics , paleontology , biology
The low bioavailability of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) is one of the key sources of uncertainty in the implementation of in situ bioremediation. Bioavailability of HOCs in the subsurface is affected by sorption/desorption processes in two important ways. First, sorption causes high organic concentrations in microporous regions and impermeable zones to which bacterial access is obstructed. Second, because desorption and immobile zone diffusion must occur before biodegradation can proceed, the overall rate of bioremediation can be limited or even controlled by these mass transfer processes, not by the activity of the degrading microorganisms. Rate models that couple sorption/desorption—related mass transfer processes and biodegradation have been successfully applied to laboratory results and are beginning to offer some insight into the problem. Specifically, the influence of sorption on biodegradation is quantified here by defining a bioavailability factor, B f . However, many questions remain and predictive modeling is elusive, especially in the context of complicated heterogeneous natural systems. Challenges facing environmental engineers are to develop a better understanding of these processes at both laboratory and field scales and ultimately to use such understanding toward the development of more effective and economical remediation technologies.