Biodegradation of nitrogen- and oxygen-containing aromatic compounds in groundwater from an oil-contaminated aquifer

• Published in: Journal of contaminant hydrology Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 65 - 75
• Main Authors: Jensen, Bjørn K., Arvin, Erik, Gundersen, Anders T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.09.1988; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Hydrology. Hydrogeology; Biodegradation; Oxygen; Pollution; Europe; Hydrocarbons; Denmark; Nitrogen; Aquifers
• ISSN: 0169-7722; 1873-6009
• DOI: 10.1016/0169-7722(88)90017-4

The aerobic biodegradation of oxygen and nitrogen heterocycles and o-cresol by subsurface bacteria in groundwater from an oil contaminated site at Zealand, Denmark, was compared to the biodegradation of these compounds in laboratory adapted suspended and fixed-film cultures. The aquifer at the abstraction site had a relatively high redox potential, since it contained nitrate. The groundwater (i.e. without the soil phase) had a high biodegradation potential for dibenzofuran, indole, quinoline, flourenone and o-cresol. All the compounds were degraded in groundwater within 5–15 days from an initial concentration of about 0.5 mg L −1 in both mixed substrate and single substrate experiments with an initial ATP concentration of 0.2 ng mL −1. Pyrrole, however, was not degraded in groundwater within 55 days in the mixed substrate experiment and very slowly, after a lag period of 20 days, in the single substrate experiment. The biodegadability picture found for groundwater in the mixed substrate experiment was similar to the results found with laboratory adapted suspended and fixed-film cultures. None of the compounds had any inhibitory effect on the biodegradation of naphthalene.