title: Degradation of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate constituents under methanogenic conditions.
abstract: The degradation of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and its intermediary hydrolysis products 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) and mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) was investigated in a methanogenic phthalic acid ester-degrading enrichment culture at 37 degrees C. 2-Ethylhexanoic acid (2-EHA), a plausible degradation product of 2-EH, was also studied. The culture readily degraded 2-EH via 2-EHA to methane which was formed in stoichiometric amounts assuming complete degradation of 2-EH to methane and carbon dioxide. MEHP was degraded to stoichiometric amounts of methane with phthalic acid as a transient intermediate. DEHP remained unaffected throughout the experimental period (330 days).
authors.affiliation: Department of Water and Environmental Studies, Linköping University, Sweden.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ejlertsson
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Svensson
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001711:Biotransformation; D002208:Caproates / Q000378:metabolism; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism*; D019605:Euryarchaeota / Q000378:metabolism*; D000441:Hexanols / Q000378:metabolism; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D002208:Caproates; D000441:Hexanols; D012722:Sewage; C040668:2-ethylhexanoic acid; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate; C016599:mono-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate; D008697:Methane; C034017:2-ethylhexanol