Transformations of Tetrachloroethene and Trichloroethene in Microcosms and Groundwater

Abstract

Cis‐ and trans‐l,2‐dichloroethene were found in well water at a site contaminated with trichloroethene from a leaking storage tank, although neither compound was used in the vicinity nor was present as an impurity in the trichloroethene in the storage tank. The use of tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene in dry cleaning and metal refinishing plants is widespread. Several chloroethene compounds that are found in southern Florida groundwater may have been formed from these solvents via microbial metabolism in the groundwater environment. In this study, depletion of tetrachloroethene and appearance of cis‐ and trans‐l,2‐dichloroethene and chloroethene were observed following incubation of tetrachloroethene in microcosms containing muck from the aquifer recharge basin.