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Natural attenuation: What does the subsurface have in store?

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Abstract

Throughout the world, organic and inorganic substances leach intothe subsurface as a result of human activities and accidents. There, the chemicals pose director indirect threats to the environment and to increasingly scarce drinking water resources.At many contaminated sites the subsurface is able to attenuate pollutants which, potentially,lowers the costs of remediation. Natural attenuation comprises a wide range of processesof which the microbiological component, which is responsible for intrinsic bioremediation,can decrease the mass and toxicity of the contaminants and is, therefore, the mostimportant. Reliance on intrinsic bioremediation requires methods to monitor the process. Thesubject of this review is how knowledge of subsurface geology and hydrology, microbial ecologyand degradation processes is used and can be used to monitor the potential andcapacity for intrinsic bioremediation in the subsurface and to verify degradation in situ.As research on natural attenuation in the subsurface has been rather fragmented and limitedand often allows only conclusions to be drawn of the site under investigation, we providea concept based on Environmental Specimen Banking which will contribute to furtherunderstanding subsurface natural attenuation processes and will help to develop andimplement new monitoring techniques.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fossil Fuels and Environmental Geochemistry Post-Graduate Institute, UK

    Wilfred F.M. Röling

  2. Section Molecular Microbial Ecology, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Research School SENSE, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail

    Wilfred F.M. Röling & Henk W. van Verseveld

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Röling, W.F., van Verseveld, H.W. Natural attenuation: What does the subsurface have in store?. Biodegradation 13, 53–64 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016310519957

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