Groundwater can be contaminated with 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (TCP) from industrial and agricultural activities, and very low concentrations of TCP are of concern (CA recently adopted an MCL of 5 ppt), so treatment of TCP contaminated groundwater is an emerging challenge. Since TCP is not removed efficiently or rapidly by established methods of groundwater remediation (e.g., by adsorption to GAC or dechlorination with zerovalent iron), it has become a test case for innovative remediation technologies. We have explored several of these, most notably zerovalent zinc (ZVZ), but also sulfidated nano ZVI, bisulfite-activated permanganate, etc. The dechlorination of TCP by ZVZ is of particular interest because it exhibits very high selectivity for reductive beta-elimination over hydrogenolysis. Molecular modeling indicates that reductive elimination is thermodynamically and kinetically favored, but the zinc also appears to contribute to this selectivity. ZVZ has proven effective for remediation of TCP in several pilot-scale field tests. TCP can be degraded under conditions of several advanced oxidation technologies, but their performance has not been sufficiently promising to lead to field applications.

Innovations in groundwater remediation driven by extremely challenging, emerging contaminants: The prototypical example of 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP)

256th National Meeting (2018)

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