Carbon and chlorine isotope fractionation of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons by evaporation

L. Huang*, N. C. Sturchio, Teofilo Abrajano, L. J. Heraty, B. D. Holt

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    135 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Two pure solvents (trichloroethene and dichloromethane) were evaporated at room temperature (24 ± 1°C). The carbon and chlorine isotopic compositions of the residual solvents were measured as a function of the fraction remaining. Isotopic fractionation factors (α) derived from these experimental results are 1 00031 ± 0.00004 for C and 0.99818 ± 0 00022 for Cl in trichloroethene, and 1.00065 ± 0.00002 for C and 0.99952 ± 0.00006 for Cl in dichloromethane. The negative correlation between δ13C and δ37Cl values caused by evaporation of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons can be used to distinguish evaporation from biodegradation in contaminated systems.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)777-785
    Number of pages9
    JournalOrganic Geochemistry
    Volume30
    Issue number8 A
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Aug 1 1999

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Geochemistry and Petrology

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