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Biotransformation of Halogenated Nonylphenols with Sphingobium Xenophagum Bayram and a Nonylphenol-Degrading Soil-Enrichment Culture

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Abstract

When discharged in chlorinated wastewater, alkylphenol ethoxylate metabolites (APEMs) are often discharged in halogenated form (XAPEMs, X = Cl, or Br). The potential environmental impact of XAPEM release was assessed by studying the biotransformation of halogenated nonylphenol by Sphingobium xenophagum Bayram and a soil-enrichment culture. S. xenophagum Bayram transformed chlorinated nonylphenol (ClNP) slowly and nearly completely to form nonyl alcohol; the monobrominated nonylphenol (BrNP) and dibrominated nonylphenol were transformed cometabolically with nonylphenol (NP) as the primary substrate. The presence of either ClNP or BrNP in the S. xenophagum Bayram cultures retarded the transformation of nonhalogenated NP. NP-degrading soil cultures transformed nonhalogenated NP to a mixture of nonyl alcohols but were not capable of transforming either ClNP or BrNP. The presence of either ClNP or BrNP retarded the transformation of nonhalogenated NP in the soil cultures, as was observed in S. xenophagum Bayram cultures. Predicting the environmental fate of alkylphenol ethoxylate residues requires considering APEM halogenation during effluent chlorination and inhibitory effects as well as the refractory nature of halogenated metabolites.

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Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the USEPA and the American Water Works Association Research Foundation through a grant to the National Center for Sustainable Water Supply at Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Water Reuse Foundation, California Department of Water Resources, Santa Clara Valley Water District, and National Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 50578114 and 50878165). The authors thank Frédéric Gabriel and Hans Peter Kohler for providing S. xenophagum Bayram. Opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Yongmei Li

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yang and Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-4020, USA

    John Montgomery-Brown & Martin Reinhard

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  1. Yongmei Li
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  2. John Montgomery-Brown
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Correspondence to Martin Reinhard.

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Li, Y., Montgomery-Brown, J. & Reinhard, M. Biotransformation of Halogenated Nonylphenols with Sphingobium Xenophagum Bayram and a Nonylphenol-Degrading Soil-Enrichment Culture. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 60, 212–219 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-010-9576-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-010-9576-4

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