Bioremediation of oil spills by whale microbes. Final report, 1994-1995
Baleen whale forestomach anaerobic microbes were studied for their ability to detoxify recalcitrant environmental pollutants; these include components of crude oil and some chlorinated aromatic compounds which are constituents of oil spills not biodegraded by aerobic microbes. In this study, forestomach rumen samples were collected on two occasions on the North Slope. When incubated with anthracene and naphthalene (PAH), these pollutants were degraded in the majority of sample sets. All simple aromatic hydrocarbons (benzine, toluene, xylenes, ethylbenzene) were degraded. PCBs were biodegraded by microbes from only two of the whales. Variable results were found with picric acid, trinitrotoluene (TNT), and atrazine, and were likely due to analytical difficulties. Whale forestomach bacteria have adapted to an ecological niche where flow rates, mixing, and catabolism occur at rapid rates. These rates and the ability to metabolize complex molecules far exceed those of aerobic sediment and soil bacteria in biodegradation of environmental pollutants.
- Research Organization:
- Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). School of Veterinary Medicine
- OSTI ID:
- 572305
- Report Number(s):
- AD-A--332528/9/XAB; CNN: Contract N00014-93-1-0823
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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