Response of Microorganisms to an Accidental Gasoline Spillage in an Arctic Freshwater Ecosystem
The response of microorganisms to an accidental spillage of 55,000 gallons of leaded gasoline into an Arctic freshwater lake was studied. Shifts in microbial populations were detected after the spillage, reflecting the migration pattern of the gasoline, enrichment for hydrocarbon utilizers, and sele...
Published in: | Applied and Environmental Microbiology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
1977
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.33.6.1252-1258.1977 https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/aem.33.6.1252-1258.1977 |
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crasmicro:10.1128/aem.33.6.1252-1258.1977 2024-04-07T07:50:01+00:00 Response of Microorganisms to an Accidental Gasoline Spillage in an Arctic Freshwater Ecosystem Horowitz, A. Atlas, R. M. 1977 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.33.6.1252-1258.1977 https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/aem.33.6.1252-1258.1977 en eng American Society for Microbiology https://journals.asm.org/non-commercial-tdm-license Applied and Environmental Microbiology volume 33, issue 6, page 1252-1258 ISSN 0099-2240 1098-5336 Ecology Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Food Science Biotechnology journal-article 1977 crasmicro https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.33.6.1252-1258.1977 2024-03-08T00:24:33Z The response of microorganisms to an accidental spillage of 55,000 gallons of leaded gasoline into an Arctic freshwater lake was studied. Shifts in microbial populations were detected after the spillage, reflecting the migration pattern of the gasoline, enrichment for hydrocarbon utilizers, and selection for leaded-gasoline-tolerant microorganisms. Ratios of gasoline-tolerant/utilizing heterotrophs to “total” heterotrophs were found to be a sensitive indicator of the degree of hydrocarbon contamination. Respiration rates were elevated in the highly contaminated area, but did not reflect differences between moderately and lightly contaminated areas. Hydrocarbon biodegradation potential experiments showed that indigenous microorganisms could extensively convert hydrocarbons to CO 2 . In situ measurement of gasoline degradation showed that, if untreated, sediment samples retained significant amounts of gasoline hydrocarbons including “volatile components” at the time the lake froze for the winter. Nutrient addition and bacterial inoculation resulted in enhanced biodegradative losses, significantly reducing the amount of residual hydrocarbons. Enhanced biodegradation, however, resulted in the appearance of compounds not detected in the gasoline. Since the contaminated lake serves as a drinking water supply, treatment to enhance microbial removal of much of the remaining gasoline still may be advisable. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic ASM Journals (American Society for Microbiology) Arctic Applied and Environmental Microbiology 33 6 1252 1258 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
ASM Journals (American Society for Microbiology) |
op_collection_id |
crasmicro |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Food Science Biotechnology |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Food Science Biotechnology Horowitz, A. Atlas, R. M. Response of Microorganisms to an Accidental Gasoline Spillage in an Arctic Freshwater Ecosystem |
topic_facet |
Ecology Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Food Science Biotechnology |
description |
The response of microorganisms to an accidental spillage of 55,000 gallons of leaded gasoline into an Arctic freshwater lake was studied. Shifts in microbial populations were detected after the spillage, reflecting the migration pattern of the gasoline, enrichment for hydrocarbon utilizers, and selection for leaded-gasoline-tolerant microorganisms. Ratios of gasoline-tolerant/utilizing heterotrophs to “total” heterotrophs were found to be a sensitive indicator of the degree of hydrocarbon contamination. Respiration rates were elevated in the highly contaminated area, but did not reflect differences between moderately and lightly contaminated areas. Hydrocarbon biodegradation potential experiments showed that indigenous microorganisms could extensively convert hydrocarbons to CO 2 . In situ measurement of gasoline degradation showed that, if untreated, sediment samples retained significant amounts of gasoline hydrocarbons including “volatile components” at the time the lake froze for the winter. Nutrient addition and bacterial inoculation resulted in enhanced biodegradative losses, significantly reducing the amount of residual hydrocarbons. Enhanced biodegradation, however, resulted in the appearance of compounds not detected in the gasoline. Since the contaminated lake serves as a drinking water supply, treatment to enhance microbial removal of much of the remaining gasoline still may be advisable. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Horowitz, A. Atlas, R. M. |
author_facet |
Horowitz, A. Atlas, R. M. |
author_sort |
Horowitz, A. |
title |
Response of Microorganisms to an Accidental Gasoline Spillage in an Arctic Freshwater Ecosystem |
title_short |
Response of Microorganisms to an Accidental Gasoline Spillage in an Arctic Freshwater Ecosystem |
title_full |
Response of Microorganisms to an Accidental Gasoline Spillage in an Arctic Freshwater Ecosystem |
title_fullStr |
Response of Microorganisms to an Accidental Gasoline Spillage in an Arctic Freshwater Ecosystem |
title_full_unstemmed |
Response of Microorganisms to an Accidental Gasoline Spillage in an Arctic Freshwater Ecosystem |
title_sort |
response of microorganisms to an accidental gasoline spillage in an arctic freshwater ecosystem |
publisher |
American Society for Microbiology |
publishDate |
1977 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.33.6.1252-1258.1977 https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/aem.33.6.1252-1258.1977 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology volume 33, issue 6, page 1252-1258 ISSN 0099-2240 1098-5336 |
op_rights |
https://journals.asm.org/non-commercial-tdm-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.33.6.1252-1258.1977 |
container_title |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology |
container_volume |
33 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1252 |
op_container_end_page |
1258 |
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1795664530537185280 |