SUBSTRATE INTERACTION DURING AEROBIC BIODEGRADATION OF CREOSOTE RELATED-COMPOUNDS - A FACTORIAL BATCH EXPERIMENT

The interactions among seven creosote-related compounds (phenanthrene, fluorene, p-cresol, pentachlorophenol, carbazole, dibenzothiophene, and dibenzofuran) during their aerobic biodegradation in groundwater were studied in factorial experiments. Three separate experiments were conducted in simple batch systems with phenanthrene, p-cresol, and carbazole as the response variable for the first, second, and third experiments, respectively, and other compounds as factors. in general,the more hydrophobic and recalcitrant compounds were more affected by substrate interaction. Mineralization of p-cresol was not affected by substrate interaction. In contrast, p-cresol inhibited mineralization of phenanthrene, but other compounds did not. Mineralization of carbazole was severely affected by the presence of other compounds. p-Cresol was the main inhibitor. Phenanthrene inhibited biodegradation, but to a lesser extent, whereas fluorene enhanced mineralization of carbazole. Pentachlorophenol and dibenzofuran caused an increase in the lag time but did not affect mineralization of carbazole afterward.