Microbial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in estuarine sediment of Tama River in Tokyo urban aera

Aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation rates of petroleum hydrocarbons, i.e., hexadecane (HEX), phenanthrene (PHE), and anthracene (ANT), were determined in estuarine sediment of the Tama River in urban Tokyo, followed by estimating their respective degradation potential. While in a sediment slurry, the aerobic biodegradation rates of these petroleum hydrocarbons ranged from 40 to 70 μg·g−1 dry sediment· day−1. The anaerobic biodegradation rate of HEX was found to be 5 - 8 μg·g−1 dry sediment· day−1, whereas that of PHE and ANT could not be detected following a 2-month incubation. Aerobic degradation of HEX was not affected by coexistence with either PHE or ANT, nor by the salinity level. The number of HEX-, PHE-, or ANT-utilizing bacteria ranged from 5 - 10% of the total number of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria. We calculated their biodegradation potentials using the biomass of naturally existing petroleum hydrocarbon-utilizing bacteria present in the sampled sediment, with results for HEX, PHE, and ANT being 1.0 − 3.5, 4.2 × 10−2, and 1.2 × 10−2 − 9.4 × 10−1 μg·g−1 dry sediment· day−1, respectively. In the aerobic tidal sediment of the Tama River, the purification potentials of HEX, PHE, and ANT were assessed to be approximately equal to their accumulation potentials occurring at the normal water level.