Biodegradation of Surfactant Chemicals in Estuarine and Near Shore Marine Environments of North Carolina
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- February 28, 2019
- Creator
-
Robinette, David
- Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering
- Abstract
- Estuaries are among the most diverse and productive ecosystems on earth. Estuarine and near shore marine environments receive nearly one-third of anthropogenic discharges to surface waters; however, very little is known about the fate of these chemicals in estuarine environments. The fate of cationic, anionic, and nonionic surfactants was studied in estuaries of coastal North Carolina. Radiolabeled chemicals were used to assess respiration, cellular uptake, and residual material in sewage impacted and unimpacted estuaries, and along the horizontal salinity gradient of the estuary. Respiration was the major fate of all compounds, with little incorporation into biomass. Adaptation of the microbial community through previous exposure to the chemicals appears important only for Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate; a chemical which also appears not to degrade significantly in marine waters. In some samples, metabolism resulted in a plateau in degradation extent instead of complete or near complete mineralization, which may be the result of formation of recalcitrant metabolic intermediates.
- Date of publication
- January 1991
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Advisor
- Pfaender, Frederic K.
- Ball, Louise
- Francisco, Donald E.
- Degree
- Master of Science in Public Health
- Academic concentration
- Aquatic and Atmospheric Sciences
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Graduation year
- 1991
- Language
- Deposit record
- ad7e9272-7c4f-43e0-afeb-7a5f2526ad76
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