Screening methods for assessment of biodegradability of chemicals in seawater--results from a ring test

Nyholm, N; Kristensen, P

doi:10.1016/0147-6513(92)90056-9

Title: Screening methods for assessment of biodegradability of chemicals in seawater--results from a ring test

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Abstract

An international ring test involving 14 laboratories was organized on behalf of the Commission of the European Economic Communities (EEC) with the purpose of evaluating two proposed screening methods for assessment of biodegradability in seawater: (a) a shake flask die-away test based primarily on analysis of dissolved organic carbon and (b) a closed bottle test based on determination of dissolved oxygen. Both tests are performed with nutrient-enriched natural seawater as the test medium and with no inoculum added other than the natural seawater microflora. The test methods are seawater versions of the modified OECD screening test and the closed bottle test, respectively, adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and by the EEC as tests for ready biodegradability.' The following five chemicals were examined: sodium benzoate, aniline, diethylene glycol, pentaerythritol, and 4-nitrophenol. Sodium benzoate and aniline, which are known to be generally readily biodegradable consistently degraded in practically all tests, thus demonstrating the technical feasibility of the methods. Like in previous ring tests with freshwater screening methods variable results were obtained with the other three compounds, which is believed primarily to be due to site-specific differences between the microflora of the different seawater samples used and tomore »« less

Authors:

Nyholm, N; Kristensen, P ^[1]

Water Quality Institute, Horsholm, (Denmark)

Publication Date:: Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI Identifier:: 5324298

Resource Type:: Journal Article

Journal Name:: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety; (United States)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 23:2; Journal ID: ISSN 0147-6513

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.; ANILINE; BIODEGRADATION; BENZOIC ACID; GLYCOLS; NITROPHENOL; PETN; FEASIBILITY STUDIES; INTERLABORATORY COMPARISONS; MEASURING METHODS; SEAWATER; WATER POLLUTION; ALCOHOLS; AMINES; AROMATICS; CARBOXYLIC ACIDS; CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVES; CHEMICAL REACTIONS; DECOMPOSITION; ESTERS; EXPLOSIVES; HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS; HYDROXY COMPOUNDS; MONOCARBOXYLIC ACIDS; NITRATES; NITRIC ACID ESTERS; NITRO COMPOUNDS; NITROGEN COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC ACIDS; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; PHENOLS; POLLUTION; WATER; 540320* - Environment, Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-); 560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology

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                    Nyholm, N, and Kristensen, P. Screening methods for assessment of biodegradability of chemicals in seawater--results from a ring test.  United States: N. p., 1992. 
        Web.  doi:10.1016/0147-6513(92)90056-9.

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                    Nyholm, N, & Kristensen, P. Screening methods for assessment of biodegradability of chemicals in seawater--results from a ring test.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-6513(92)90056-9

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                    Nyholm, N, and Kristensen, P. 1992.  
        "Screening methods for assessment of biodegradability of chemicals in seawater--results from a ring test".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-6513(92)90056-9.

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@article{osti_5324298,

  title        = {Screening methods for assessment of biodegradability of chemicals in seawater--results from a ring test},

  author       = {Nyholm, N and Kristensen, P},

  abstractNote = {An international ring test involving 14 laboratories was organized on behalf of the Commission of the European Economic Communities (EEC) with the purpose of evaluating two proposed screening methods for assessment of biodegradability in seawater: (a) a shake flask die-away test based primarily on analysis of dissolved organic carbon and (b) a closed bottle test based on determination of dissolved oxygen. Both tests are performed with nutrient-enriched natural seawater as the test medium and with no inoculum added other than the natural seawater microflora. The test methods are seawater versions of the modified OECD screening test and the closed bottle test, respectively, adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and by the EEC as tests for ready biodegradability.' The following five chemicals were examined: sodium benzoate, aniline, diethylene glycol, pentaerythritol, and 4-nitrophenol. Sodium benzoate and aniline, which are known to be generally readily biodegradable consistently degraded in practically all tests, thus demonstrating the technical feasibility of the methods. Like in previous ring tests with freshwater screening methods variable results were obtained with the other three compounds, which is believed primarily to be due to site-specific differences between the microflora of the different seawater samples used and to some extent also to differences in the applied concentrations of test material. A positive result with the screening methods indicates that the test substance will most likely degrade relatively rapidly in seawater from the site of collection, while a negative test result does not preclude biodegradability under environmental conditions where the concentrations of chemicals are much lower than the concentrations applied for analytical reasons in screening tests.},

  doi          = {10.1016/0147-6513(92)90056-9},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5324298},
  journal      = {Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety; (United States)},

  issn         = {0147-6513},

  number       = ,

  volume       = 23:2,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1992},

  month        = {Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1992}

}

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