Assessment of the Use of Surfactants for Biodegradation of Hydrophobic211 Pollutants: Development of Principles

摘要

A well-defined experimental system was developed to quantify the effects of a211u001esurfactant on biodegradation of phenanthrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 211u001eand model hydrophobic chemical, under two situations relevant to experimental 211u001ework reported by others and to potential field applications. When phenenthrene 211u001ewas completely solubilized in surfactant micelles, the rate of degradation 211u001edecreased with increasing surfactant concentraiton. However, when phenanthrene 211u001ewas present in excess as a solid phase, the surfactant increased the rate of 211u001emicrobial growth relative to a control in which surfactant was not added. The 211u001eeffects of the surfactant were explained well with a mechanistic model based on 211u001epartitioning of phenanthrene between the aqueous phase and surfactant micelles, 211u001eand on the known ability of the surfactant to increase the rate of phenanthrene 211u001edissolution from the solid phase.