Hydrochemistry and Contaminants

The Hydrochemistry and Contaminants Laboratory studies the behaviour of chemical compounds and micro-organisms in aquifer systems. A key research objective is to elucidate how the hydrogeological and geochemical context controls the time scale and spatial extent of impacts on water quality. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of soil-groundwater and river-groundwater interfaces on the flux of solutes through the subsurface.

The research uses a combination of field, laboratory and modelling methods. In the field studies, methods are developed to resolve key processes at high spatial and temporal resolution. Advanced analytical methods, such as compound-specific isotope analysis, are used to identify and quantify reactive processes under field conditions. Reaction rate quantification methods are combined with tracing methods to assess the time scales of water and solute movements in order to characterize and predict contaminant dynamics.

Current projects focus on the transport of pesticides and their metabolites in soils and groundwater, the fate of micro-organisms at interfaces between rivers and groundwater, the behaviour of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as ‘forever chemicals’) in soils and groundwater, and the impact of pesticides on the environment.

Recent Publications

  • Hintze, S., Cochand, F., Glauser, G. and Hunkeler, D., 2024. Soil and Unsaturated Zone as a Long-Term Source for Pesticide Metabolites in Groundwater. Water Research, p.121901.
  • Hofstetter, T.B., Bakkour, R., Buchner, D., Eisenmann, H., Fischer, A., Gehre, M., Haderlein, S.B., Höhener, P., Hunkeler, D., Imfeld, G. and Jochmann, M.A., 2024. Perspectives of compound-specific isotope analysis of organic contaminants for assessing environmental fate and managing chemical pollution. Nature Water2(1), pp.14-30.
  • Palau, P., Trueba-Santiso, A., Yu, R., Hatijah Mortan, S., Shouakar-Stash, O., Freedman, D.L., Wasmund, K., Hunkeler, D., Marco-Urrea, E., Rosell. 2023, M.. Dual C–Br isotope fractionation indicates distinct reductive dehalogenation mechanisms of 1, 2-dibromoethane in Dehalococcoides-and Dehalogenimonas-containing cultures. Environmental Science and Technology, 57, 5, 1949-1958
  • Brennwald, M.S., Peel, M., Blanc, T., Tomonaga, Y., Kipfer, R., Brunner, P., Hunkeler, D.. 2022. New experimental tools to use noble gases as artificial tracers for groundwater flow, Frontiers in Water, 4, 925294.
  • Wey, H., Hunkeler, D., Bischoff, W.-A., Bünemann, E.K., 2022. Field-scale monitoring of nitrate leaching in agriculture: assessment of three methods. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 194, 1-20.