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Bioremediation of Benzene-contaminated Underground Aquifers

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Advances in Applied Bioremediation

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 17))

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Abstract

Contamination of underground aquifers with gasoline occurs frequently. Among the gasoline constituents, benzene is of great environmental concern, since it is carcinogenic, water-soluble and persistent under anaerobic conditions. We have analyzed a gasoline-contaminated underground aquifer undergoing natural attenuation, where benzene was degraded, albeit slowly, under anaerobic conditions. RNA-based stable-isotope probing identified that bacteria affiliated with the genus AZOARCUS was responsible for benzene degradation under nitrate-reducing conditions. This result was confirmed by isolating an anaerobic benzene-degrading bacterium AZOARCUS sp. strain DN11. This strain degraded benzene at relatively low concentrations (as low as 10 ppb). It could also degrade toluene and xylenes. In laboratory bioaugmentation experiments using benzene-contaminated groundwater, it was demonstrated that supplementation with DN11 significantly accelerated benzene degradation under a nitrate-reducing condition. These results indicate that DN11 is potentially useful for degrading benzene that contaminates underground aquifers at relatively low concentrations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8904, Japan

    Kazuya Watanabe

  2. Hashimoto Light Energy Conversion Project, ERATO, JST, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Kazuya Watanabe

  3. Civil Engineering Research Institute, Taisei Corporation, Nase-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, 245-0051, Japan

    Yoh Takahata

Authors
  1. Kazuya Watanabe
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  2. Yoh Takahata
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Correspondence to Kazuya Watanabe .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Biology, University of Waterloo, University Avenue W. 200, Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Canada

    A. Singh

  2. Fac. Inter-Disciplinary &, University of Delhi, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi, 110021, India

    Ramesh C. Kuhad

  3. Dept. Biology, University of Waterloo, University Avenue W. 200, Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Owen P. Ward

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Watanabe, K., Takahata, Y. (2009). Bioremediation of Benzene-contaminated Underground Aquifers. In: Singh, A., Kuhad, R., Ward, O. (eds) Advances in Applied Bioremediation. Soil Biology, vol 17. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89621-0_10

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