Degradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate in soil columns

✍ Scribed by Ulla Branner; Merete Mygind; Claus Jørgensen

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 94 KB
• Volume: 18
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0730-7268
• DOI: 10.1002/etc.5620180824

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

This study investigated the ability of a microbial community to degrade linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) in soil columns under water‐saturated conditions. The microbial mineralization of LAS was further studied in a batch experiment using pre‐exposed and unexposed soil as well as soil from the inlet and outlet of the columns. The LAS (4 mg/L) was added continuously to the columns. Three pulses of ^14^C‐labeled LAS (^14^C‐dodecyl‐[6]‐benzene sulfonate) were added at intervals of 2 weeks, and the mineralization was measured as production of ^14^CO~2~. The primary degradation of LAS was close to 100% in the columns, whereas the mineralization of the ^14^C‐labeled compound reached only 9%. The degradation products of LAS proved to be significantly less sorbtive than LAS itself. In the batch experiment, mineralization of LAS occurred in unexposed soil after a short lag phase. The mineralization proved to be more dependent on a high representation of biomass than on previous exposure to LAS.