CHED 838 |
| Jennifer A. Hironaga, Jennifer Busch-Harris, and Kerry Sublette. |
| We are developing tools based on porous polymeric biocatalyst bead technology to investigate aspects of the microbial ecology of aquifers contaminated with hydrocarbons, fuel oxygenates, or chlorinated hydrocarbons. The porous polymeric beads, Bio-Sep beads, are housed in bio-traps in aquifers. Biofilms are cultivated in the beads and are indicative of the active component of the subsurface microbial community. Analysis of these biofilms can reveal the operative biodegradation processes in the aquifer. “Baiting” of the beads can also be used to evaluate the efficacy of potential remediation amendments or to give direct proof of the degradation of specific target compounds by indigenous microorganisms under actual field conditions. Bio-traps have been baited with 13C-labeled compounds and subsequently analyzed for 13C in biomass to demonstrate biodegradation potential. Bio-traps have also been baited with materials like molasses and lactate to demonstrate the utility of these compounds to stimulate the biodegradation of chlorinated compounds. Stimulation is indicated by the accumulation of microbes in the beads known to use chlorinated hydrocarbons as electron acceptors. Currently we are working to increase the information gained from these bio-traps by baiting the beads with fluorinated analogs of tetrachloroethene and its daughter products. Following incubation in a contaminated aquifer we look for fluorinated metabolites in the beads to determine the extent of degradation. With these methods we hope to specifically identify those aquifer conditions that may lead to a cis-1,2-dichloroethane stall. Results from recent deployments of these types of bio-traps will be discussed. |
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Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Environmental Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, 27 March 2006 Georgia World Congress Center -- Ex. Hall B4, Poster
Division of Chemical Education |