Transport behaviour of short chained alkyl phenols (SCAP) in groundwater and environment

The use of SCAPs – short-chained alkyl phenols – as industrial fingerprints and as process- and transport-indicators in groundwater is based on their environmental behaviour. The chemical and physical properties have to be different enough between each compound in order to observe fractionation during transport. Water solubility is high for phenols and decreases with the amount of alkylation. The partitioning coefficients logKOWand logKOWfor phenols are very small and increase with growing degrees of alkylation. This leads to fractionation of the compounds within the aquifer, which was demonstrated in a field study. In spite of limited literature data on toxicity and degradability for some SCAP compounds, natural attenuation is still a possible remediation technique. Overall, the environmental behaviour of SCAPs indicates that they are mobile in aquifers. This creates opportunities for new applications such as their use as process- and transport-indicators in the assessment of contaminated sites.