Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS
Volume 10, Issue 1, Pages 40-45Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00811
Keywords
biodegradation; river water; sediment; micropollutants; OECD 309
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The environmental relevance of standard biodegradation tests, such as OECD 309, has been questioned due to challenges in interpreting degradation kinetics and the effects of chemical spiking on microbial communities. This study suggests that considering only the initial biodegradation phase can improve the environmental relevance of OECD 309.
The environmental relevance of standard biodegradation tests such as OECD 309 has been questioned. Challenges include the interpretation of changing degradation kinetics over the 60-90 incubation days and the effects of chemical spiking on the microbial community. To ameliorate these weaknesses, we evaluated a modified OECD 309 test using water and sediment from three Swedish rivers. For each river, we had three treatments (no spiking, 0.5 mu g L-1 spiking, and 5 mu g L-1 spiking). The dissipation of a mixture of 56-80 spiked chemicals was followed over 14 days. Changes in dissipation kinetics during the incubation were interpreted as a departure of the microbial community from its initial (natural) state. The biodegradation kinetics were first order throughout the incubation in the no spiking and 0.5 mu g L-1 spiking treatments for almost all chemicals, but for the 5 mu g L-1 treatment, more chemicals showed changes in kinetics. The rate constants in the no spiking and 0.5 mu g L-1 treatments agreed within a factor of 2 for 35 of 37 cases. We conclude that the environmental relevance of OECD 309 is improved by considering only the initial biodegradation phase and that it is not compromised by spiking multiple chemicals at 0.5 mu g L-1.
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