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RECORD NUMBER: 20 OF 189

Main Title Anaerobic Biodegradation of Nitrogen-Substituted and Sulfonated Benzene Aquifer Contaminants.
Author Kuhn, E. P. ; Suflita., J. M. ;
CORP Author Oklahoma Univ., Norman. Dept. of Botany and Microbiology.;Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Lab., Ada, OK.
Publisher c1989
Year Published 1989
Report Number EPA/600/J-89/190;
Stock Number PB90-140708
Additional Subjects Anaerobic processes ; Biodeterioration ; Aquifers ; Hazardous materials ; Water pollution control ; Benzenes ; Ground water ; Waste treatment ; Nitrogen organic compounds ; Sulfur organic compounds ; Microorganisms ; Sulfate reducing bacteria ; Reprints ; Biological industrial waste treatment ; Methane bacteria ; Biologically stable substances
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NTIS  PB90-140708 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation 14p
Abstract
A literature survey of ground water contaminants indicated that aquifers are repositories for hazardous wastes, including N- and S-substituted benzene derivatives. The susceptibility of several anilines, benzamides, benzenesulfonic acids and benzenesulfonamides to anaerobic metabolism by aquifer microorganisms was examined. Under sulfate-reducing and methanogenic conditions the carboxylated anilines were biotransformed within 1 to 3 months while unsubstituted or methylated anilines required longer incubation times. Benzamide as well as an aryl methyl and an N-methyl derivative were biodegraded under both redox conditions. The anerobic degradation of the N-methylated benzamide was favored in sulfate-reducing rather than methanogenic incubations. However, the addition of a second N-alkyl group rendered the resulting compounds resistant to anaerobic decay. Only 1 of 7 benzenesulfonates and 2 of 5 benzene-sulfonamides proved amenable to anaerobic metabolism. The authors found 37-75% of the theoretically expected amount of methane from aquifer slurries amended with the aminobenzoic acids, benzamide, and p-toluamide. In the sulfate-reducing aquifer slurries 89-100% of the oxidized benzamide, p-toluamide and N-methylbenzamide could be accounted for by sulfate reduction. These results help indicate which hazardous waste constituents will likely persist in anoxic aquifers and the types of chemical substitution patterns that favor anaerobic biotransformation.