Real-time monitoring of dissolved toluene biodegradation in column experiments using spectral induced polarization
Abstract
Toluene is a common groundwater contaminant originating from leaks of petroleum products and industrial effluents. Accurately assessing the in-situ biodegradation rate of such contaminants is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of bioremediation strategies. However, traditional drilling and sampling methods are costly and incapable of in-situ biodegradation rate assessment. In recent years, Spectral induced polarization (SIP) has demonstrated to be an effective tool for real-time monitoring of microbial activity. However, to date, limited researches have investigated its mechanism to real-time monitoring of toluene biodegradation. To address this gap, nine soil column experiments were conducted to monitor the biodegradation of dissolved-phase toluene using the SIP method. Biodegradation was qualitatively confirmed through changes in dissolved oxygen (DO), nitrate (NO 3 -), and carbon isotope ratios (δ 13 C). The results indicate that the observed increase in quadrature conductivity primarily reflects bacterial growth during biodegradation rather than variations in dissolved toluene concentration. The maximum specific growth rate (μ m ) of the inoculated bacteria was estimated to be 0.035 D -1 and the corresponding toluene biodegradation rate constant was 0.018 D -1 . These findings demonstrate that SIP offers strong potentials as a quantitative, non-invasive, technique for tracking microbial degradation processes in porous media, providing theoretical and methodological support for future field-scale bioremediation applications.
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BibTeX
@article{song2026realtime,
title = {{Real-time monitoring of dissolved toluene biodegradation in column experiments using spectral induced polarization}},
author = {Yalin Song and Xiaoqing Shi and André Revil and Qilin Wang and Xinqiang Du and Jichun Wu},
journal = {Advances in Water Resources},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.advwatres.2025.105168},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05760361v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Real-time monitoring of dissolved toluene biodegradation in column experiments using spectral induced polarization
AU - Yalin Song
AU - Xiaoqing Shi
AU - André Revil
AU - Qilin Wang
AU - Xinqiang Du
AU - Jichun Wu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
JO - Advances in Water Resources
DO - 10.1016/j.advwatres.2025.105168
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05760361v1
AB - Toluene is a common groundwater contaminant originating from leaks of petroleum products and industrial effluents. Accurately assessing the in-situ biodegradation rate of such contaminants is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of bioremediation strategies. However, traditional drilling and sampling methods are costly and incapable of in-situ biodegradation rate assessment. In recent years, Spectral induced polarization (SIP) has demonstrated to be an effective tool for real-time monitoring of microbial activity. However, to date, limited researches have investigated its mechanism to real-time monitoring of toluene biodegradation. To address this gap, nine soil column experiments were conducted to monitor the biodegradation of dissolved-phase toluene using the SIP method. Biodegradation was qualitatively confirmed through changes in dissolved oxygen (DO), nitrate (NO 3 -), and carbon isotope ratios (δ 13 C). The results indicate that the observed increase in quadrature conductivity primarily reflects bacterial growth during biodegradation rather than variations in dissolved toluene concentration. The maximum specific growth rate (μ m ) of the inoculated bacteria was estimated to be 0.035 D -1 and the corresponding toluene biodegradation rate constant was 0.018 D -1 . These findings demonstrate that SIP offers strong potentials as a quantitative, non-invasive, technique for tracking microbial degradation processes in porous media, providing theoretical and methodological support for future field-scale bioremediation applications.
SN - 0309-1708
SN - 1872-9657
ER -