title: The primary aerobic biodegradation of gasoline hydrocarbons.
abstract: We describe the primary aerobic biodegradation of an unleaded, unoxygenated, regular gasoline by inocula from unacclimated fresh and sea water, and from a domestic sewage treatment plant. Biodegradation was rapid and complete in all inocula, with an overall median "half-life", at approximately 70 ppm gasoline and low levels of inorganic nutrients, of 5 days. The biodegradation of 131 individual hydrocarbons in the gasoline followed a relatively consistent pattern. The larger n-alkanes and iso-alkanes, and simple and alkylated aromatic compounds were the most readily degraded compounds, followed by the smaller n-alkanes and isoalkanes and the naphthenes. The last compounds to be degraded were butane, iso-butane, and 2,2-dimethylbutane, but even these disappeared with an apparent half-life of <30 days. The fact that the aqueous concentration of many of the individual components was in the sub ppb level is a remarkable demonstration of the ability of unadapted indigenous aerobic microorganisms to respond to and effectively biodegrade gasoline range hydrocarbons.
authors.affiliation: ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc., Annandale, New Jersey 08801, USA. Roger.C.Prince@ExxonMobil.com
authors.forename: Roger C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Parkerton
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D005618:Fresh Water; D005742:Gasoline; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012623:Seawater; D012722:Sewage
chemical_list: D005742:Gasoline; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D012722:Sewage