U of T technique put to use to test clean up of contaminated g... ( Cleaning up the dangerous contaminan...)

U of T technique put to use to test clean up of contaminated groundwater

Date:1/30/2009

Cleaning up the dangerous contaminants dry-cleaning fluids, solvents and petroleum hydrocarbons found in underground water presents one of the most urgent challenges facing environmental science. A report issued today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sheds light on a new way to monitor and improve the success of clean-up efforts using a technique developed at the University of Toronto.

"The most common method to clean-up groundwater is biodegradation using microbes to consume the contaminants and break them down into more benign end products that are not harmful to the environment," says U of T geochemist Barbara Sherwood Lollar, the scientist who initiated the concept and goals for the EPA report and is one of its five international authors.

The report outlines how this can be done using a novel technique called Compound Specific Isotope Analysis, developed in U of T's Stable Isotope Laboratory. The elements of carbon that form the basis for the hydrocarbon contaminants actually come in two types called isotopes, explains Sherwood Lollar. "When microbes degrade contaminants, they prefer the lighter isotope carbon 12 over the heavier isotope carbon 13. The resulting change in the ratio of these isotopes in the contaminant itself is a dramatic and definitive indicator that the biodegradation is successfully taking place."

Beginning in the 1990s, U of T's Stable Isotope Laboratory has been an international pioneer in discovering how different carbon isotopes can be used to identify whether or not biodegradation is taking place. "Today, dozens of students in Canada have been trained in this method, drawn in by the fascinating combination of fundamental research that has important applications such as the clean-up of drinking water," says Sherwood Lollar. Over the past decade, as the new technique has become more widespread, centres for research and education - and even private companies have blossomed worldwide.

Contact: Christine Elias
celias@artsci.utoronto.ca
University of Toronto
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. New satellite techniques for looking at climate change
2. New computational technique allows comparison of whole genomes as easily as whole books
3. Novel technique changes lymph node biopsy, reduces radiation exposure
4. Novel technique changes lymph node biopsy, reduces radiaiton exposure
5. New technique is quantum leap forward in understanding proteins
6. New edition of laboratory manual includes cutting-edge techniques to study gene regulation
7. Novel technique for fluorescence tomography of tumors in living animals
8. These shells dont clam up: Innovative technique to record human impact on coastal waters
9. Einstein researchers develop technique to count messages made by single genes
10. These shells dont clam up: Innovative technique to record human impact on coastal waters
11. New technique eliminates toxic drugs in islet transplant in diabetic mice

Post Your Comments:

U of T technique put to use to test clean up of contaminated g...( Cleaning up the dangerous contaminan...)