Biodegradability testing using standardized microbial communities as inoculum

Environmental Toxicology
S M PaixãoA M Anselmo

Abstract

Reference materials are important tools for maintaining high-quality assurance standards, including for biological materials. A significant number of environmental international standards, including biodegradability and toxicity, involve utilization of activated sludge (AS) inocula. The absence of inoculum standardization in these tests is a potential source of error influencing the results. In this study three defined microbial consortia, two commercial inocula and a designed bacterial inoculum, were evaluated as an AS alternative seed for the Zahn-Wellens test, using diethylene glycol as the reference chemical. The results showed that to achieve diethylene glycol biodegradation with these inocula, a number of 10(5) colony-forming units per milliliter of effective degrader microorganisms had to be present. Moreover, the addition of AS supernatant to the test mixtures improved inocula performance (the biodegradability curves), bringing them closer to those obtained with AS inocula. Among the three defined consortia, the designed inoculum replicates bested the AS behavior in the range of concentrations tested, with degradation completed in 12-14 days. Comparisons of the community substrate utilization profiles corroborated these...Continue Reading

References

Jul 1, 1990·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·C A PettigrewG S Sayler
Aug 1, 1995·Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety·C G van GinkelC A Stroo
Apr 1, 1996·Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety·G ThouandJ C Block
Aug 1, 1996·Biodegradation·G T Keursten, P H Groenevelt
Mar 22, 2001·Water Research·A GuellilP Ginestet
Jan 23, 2003·Environmental Toxicology·S M PaixãoA M Anselmo

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Citations

Jul 12, 2011·Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry·Gabriela A Vázquez-RodríguezJean-Luc Rols
Jun 19, 2007·Water Environment Research : a Research Publication of the Water Environment Federation·S M PaixãoA M Anselmo

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