Evaluation of carbon isotope fractionation during anaerobic reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated and brominated benzenes

Abstract Compound specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) has been established as a useful tool to evaluate in situ biodegradation. Here, CSIA was used to determine microbial dehalogenation of chloro- and bromobenzenes in microcosms derived from Hackensack River sediments. Gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS) was used to measure carbon isotope fractionation during reductive dehalogenation of hexachlorobenzene (HCB), pentachlorobenzene (PeCB), 1,2,3,5-tetrachlorobenzene (TeCB), 1,2,3,5-tetrabromobenzene (TeBB), and 1,3,5-tribromobenzene (TriBB). Strong evidence of isotope fractionation coupled to dehalogenation was not observed in the substrate, possibly due to the low solubilities of the highly halogenated benzene substrates and a dilution of the isotope signal. Nonetheless, we could measure a depletion of the δ 13 C value in the dichlorobenzene product during dechlorination of HCB, the sequential depletion and enrichment of δ 13 C value for trichlorobenzene in TeCB dechlorinating cultures, and the enrichment of δ 13 C during debromination of TriBB. This indicates that a measurable isotope fractionation occurred during reductive dehalogenation of highly halogenated chloro- and bromobenzenes in aquatic sediments. Thus, although more quantitative measurements will be needed, the data suggests that CSIA may have application for monitoring in situ microbial reductive dehalogenation of highly halogenated benzenes.