The influence of creosote compounds on the aerobic degradation of toluene

✍ Scribed by Søren Dyreborg; Erik Arvin; Kim Broholm

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 828 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0923-9820
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00114622

✦ Synopsis

The inhibiting effect of 14 typical creosote compounds on the aerobic degradation of toluene was studied in batch experiments. Four NSO-compounds (pyrrole, 1-methylpyrrole, thiophene, and benzofuran) strongly inhibited the degradation of toluene. When the NSO-compounds were present together with toluene, little or no degradation of toluene was observed during 16 days of incubation, compared with a total removal of toluene within 4 days when the four compounds were absent. Indole (an N-compound) and three phenolic compounds (phenol, o-cresol, and 2,4-dimethylphenol) also inhibited the degradation of toluene, though the effect was much weaker that of the four NSO-compounds. O-xylene, p-xylene, naphthalene and 1-methylnaphthalene seemed to stimulate the degradation even though the influence was very weak. No effects of benzothiophene (an S-compound) and quinoline (an Ncompound) were observed. Benzofuran (an O-compound) was identified as the compound that most inhibited the degradation of toluene. An effect could be detected even at low concentrations (40/zg/1).