Natural Attenuation Laboratory Services
Indicators of Anaerobic Natural Attenuation*
| Analyte | Information Gained |
|---|---|
| methane | Determine whether strong reducing conditions are present, since methane-producing bacteria require these conditions. |
| ethene & ethane | These are the products of reductive dechlorination of solvents such as PCE and TCE. |
| organic acids | These compounds act as electron donors (food) for anaerobic microbes which produce H2 for dechlorinating bacteria |
| H2 | Specific low H2 concentrations in groundwater correlate with activity of dechlorinators, sulfate reducers, and other microbial groups. Molecular hydrogen can be determined in the gas form, or dissolved form. |
| SO4-2,NO3,Fe++ Mn++ | Presence of sulfate and nitrate indicate reducing conditions not low enough for dechlorination of DCE. The presence of ferrous iron and soluble manganese indicate that “anaerobic oxidation” of cis-DCE and VC is possible, and that redox is insufficient for reductive dechlorination. |
BCI provides dissolved gas analyses for the determination of methane, ethene, ethane, propane, propene and molecular hydrogen. (see pricing). Our detection limits for methane and ethene is below 0.1 ug/L
*BCI will provide a free microbiological interpretation for each groundwater sample analyzed for natural attenuation parameters.