Degradation of chlorinated and non-chlorinated aromatic solvents in soil suspensions by pure bacterial cultures

Summary. Several strains that utilize aromatic sol-vents were isolated and tested for their ability to degrade chlorinated and non-chlorinated aro-matic hydrocarbons. The effect of inoculation with pure bacterial cultures on the degradation of benzene, toluene, o-, m- and p-xylene, chloroben-zene, o-dichlorobenzene and 1,3,5-trichloroben-zene in soil slurries was studied. The compounds for which organisms were added were rapidly de-graded. Without inoculation, however, degrada-tion of benzene, toluene, m- and p-xylene and chlorobenzene was slow, while o-xylene and o-dichlorobenzene w re only slightly degraded. The results showed that degradation was due to growth of the inoculated ceils using the aromatic compounds as sources of carbon and energy. Ad-dition of activated sludge did not stimulate de-gradation. The degradation rate of aromatic sol-vents by the added bacteria in soil slurries was similar or higher than that observed in liquid cul-tures of the same organisms