What is a halogenated Volatile Organic Compound?
A halogen is an element in the seventh column of the periodic table of elements, e.g. fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine. A halogenated volatile organic compound (VOC) is a VOC with one of those elements. This research project focuses on halogenated VOC’s because they tend to be harmful to human health (toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic), and they often persist in groundwater. Nonhalogenated compounds are generally more easily degraded by bacteria.
