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CONTAMINANT REDISTRIBUTION CAN CONFOUND INTERPRETATION OF OIL-SPILL BIOREMEDIATION STUDIES
Citation:
Wrenn, B. A., A D. Venosa*, AND M. T. Suidan. CONTAMINANT REDISTRIBUTION CAN CONFOUND INTERPRETATION OF OIL-SPILL BIOREMEDIATION STUDIES. Battelle's Fifth International Symposium "In Situ Bioremediation of petroleum Hydrocarbon and Other Organic Compounds", San Diego, CA, 4/19-22/99.
Description:
The physical redistribution of oil between the inside and outside of experimental plots can affect the results of bioremediation field studies that are conducted on shorelines contaminated by real oil spills. Because untreated oil from the surrounding beach will enter the plot, and treated oil will leave it, the observed rate of target analyte removal will be lower than the actual rate, and the final extent of remediation will be less extensive than would be achievable if the entire shoreline were treated. Normalization of the analyte concentration to the concentration of recalcitrant biomarkers cannot correct for this error.