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A Guide for Assessing Biodegradation and Source Identification of Organic Groundwater Contaminants Using Compound Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA)
Citation:
Hunkeler, D., R. U. Meckenstock, B. Lollar, T. C. Schmidt, AND J. T. WILSON. A Guide for Assessing Biodegradation and Source Identification of Organic Groundwater Contaminants Using Compound Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-08/148, 2009.
Impact/Purpose:
The objective is to show that stable isotope analyses can provide an in-depth understanding of biodegradation or abiotic transformation processes in contaminated aquifers.
Description:
When organic contaminants are degraded in the environment, the ratio of stable isotopes will often change, and the extent of degradation can be recognized and predicted from the change in the ratio of stable isotopes. Recent advances in analytical chemistry make it possible to perform Compound Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA) on dissolved organic contaminants such as chlorinated solvents, aromatic petroleum hydrocarbons, and fuel oxygenates, at concentrations in water that are near their regulatory standards. The traditional approach for monitoring of concentrations of contaminants at sites often does not offer adequate information about the processes that are responsible for removal of the contaminants. Stable isotope analyses can provide an in-depth understanding of biodegradation or abiotic transformation processes in contaminated aquifers. Because CSIA is a new approach, there are no widely accepted standards for accuracy, precision and sensitivity, and no established approaches to document accuracy, precision, sensitivity and representativeness. This Guide provides general recommendations on good practice for sampling, for measurement, for data evaluation and for interpretation in CSIA. This Guide is intended for managers of hazardous waste sites who must design sampling plans that will include CSIA and specify data quality objectives for CSIA analyses, for analytical chemists who must carry out the analyses, and for staff of regulatory agencies who must review and approve the sampling plans and data quality objectives, and who must review the data provided from the analyses.