Publication Date:
1991-05-10
Description:
Conventional approaches for proving in situ biodegradation of organic pollutants in aquifers have severe limitations. In the approach described here, patterns in a comprehensive set of microbiological activity and distribution data were analyzed. Measurements were performed on sediment samples gathered at consistent depths in aquifer boreholes spanning a gradient of contaminant concentrations at a buried coal tar site. Microbial adaptation to polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was demonstrated by mineralization of naphthalene and phenanthrene in samples from PAH-contaminated, but not adjacent pristine, zones. Furthermore, contaminant-stimulated in situ bacterial growth was indicated because enhanced numbers of protozoa and their bacterial prey were found exclusively in contaminated subsurface samples. The data suggest that many convergent lines of logically linked indirect evidence can effectively document in situ biodegradation of aquifer contaminants.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Madsen, E L -- Sinclair, J L -- Ghiorse, W C -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1991 May 10;252(5007):830-3.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Section of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2028258" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
Bacteria/*metabolism
;
Biodegradation, Environmental
;
*Environmental Pollutants
;
Eukaryota/*metabolism
;
Fungi/*metabolism
;
Polycyclic Compounds/*metabolism
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
Permalink