Accelerated Biodegration of organic contaminants by humic acid
Hoi-Ying Holman, K. Nieman1, D.L. Sorenson, C.D. Miller1, and
R.C. Sims
Contact: Hoi-Ying Holman, 510/486-5943, HYHolman@lbl.gov
Research Objectives
The role of humic acid (HA) in the biodegradation of toxic
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been the subject of
controversy in the design of bioremediation strategy for polluted
sites, particularly in unsaturated environments. To solve this controversy,
we utilized our novel synchrotron infrared (SIR) spectromicroscopy
technique to monitor, in situ and over time, the influence of HA
on the degradation of pyrene (a model PAH) by a bacterial colony
on a magnetite surface.
To continue reading more about this project, view
the 1-page pdf here.
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 Summary of IR results showing that pyrene degradation occurs much faster when HA is present (note the log scale on the time axis). The color scheme is black for abiotic, green for biotic without HA, and red for biotic with HA. The solid lines show the pyrene amount (left axis) as a function of time for each experiment. The dotted lines show a subsequent increase in Mycobacterium sp. JLS biomass (right axis) after pyrene degrations.
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