The Combined CO sub(2)/DOC Test-a New Method to Determine the Biodegradability of Organic Compounds

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 30; no. 3; p. 525
• Main Authors: Strotmann, Uwe J, Schwarz, Helmut, Pagga, Udo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.02.1995
• ISSN: 0045-6535

The OECD Guidelines for Testing of Chemicals (OECD, 1993) offer a variety of methods to determine the biodegradability of chemical compounds. The determination of the ready biodegradability, in particular, plays a crucial role in the ecological characterization of substances. Nevertheless, for the methods based on DOC removal it is difficult to differentiate clearly between physical/chemical elimination and microbial degradation. Therefore, the combined CO sub(2)/DOC test was designed, which offers the opportunity to simultaneously follow the DOC removal and mineralization of a compound. The new method was optimized with regard to the properties of the medium and inoculum concentration and compared with the manometric respirometry test (OECD 301 F) and the Zahn-Wellens test (OECD 302 B). The results obtained show that the combined CO sub(2)/DOC test provides reliable results and gives enhanced information on the biodegradation pattern of a chemical compound.