Biodegradation accelerant

A biodegradation accelerant increases or accelerates the rate of biodegradation in the environment. For example, calcium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, calcium oxide, barium oxide, barium hydroxide, sodium silicate, calcium phosphate, magnesium oxide, may accelerate the biodegradation process. These compounds may also act as processing aids. A commonly used compound is calcium carbonate (20). 

Engineered systems may also incorporate the addition of a cosubstrate to help establish an active microbial community and thereby accelerate the biodegradation of oxygenates. Hydrocarbon... 

Except for the PBS/SAP-qC16 (n-hexadecyl tri-n-butyl phosphonium cation modified saponite) system, the degree of degradation is the same for other samples. This indicates that MMT or alkylammonium cations, and at the same time other properties, have no effect on the biodegradability of PBS. The accelerated degradation of PBS matrix in the presence of SAP-qC16 may be due to the presence of alkylpho-sphonium surfactant. This kind of behavior is also observed in the case of PLA/MMT-based nanocomposite systems. 

Guo J (2006) Biodegradation of hyper-salinity dye wastewaters and the accelerating effect of redox mediators. Ph.D. thesis, Dalian Technology University, Dalian... 

Thomas et al. (43) showed that phenanthrene is actively metabolized in salmonTds and Lee et al. (41) have shown that benzo[a]pyrene is biodegraded in three species of marine fish. Varanasi et al. (VI ) demonstrated for the first time that the skin of fish exposed to aromatic hydrocarbons via either force-feeding, intraperitoneal injection, or in flowing seawater accumulate substantial concentrations of metabolic products. This is of particular interest since studies of mammalian systems have shown that some alkyl naphthalenes can be accelerators of skin carcinogenesis (32). Varanasi et al. (11) also demonstrated that the mucus of rainFow trout exposed to radiolabeled naphthalene... 

Viewed as a whole, then, the evidence presently available does not support the contention that lignin peroxidase is a key enzyme for the series of transformations bringing about lignin biodegradation in nature. Yet its presence can actually accelerate the degradation of lignins in vivo (34). Consequently the formulation of some provisional ideas about its possible functions would certainly be desirable. 

Figure 8. Biodegradation of photodegraded LDPE. Cpm released (as C-CO2) demonstrates decomposition of the low molecular weight fraction of the plastic. Line A LDPE with accelerant of photodegradation Line B LDPE without accelerant. Maximum cpm released is less than 5% of total cpm added as LDPE. Data are from (45), Table 5.

Biodegradation of fuel oils in sediments is inhibited under anaerobic conditions (Bartha and Atlas 1977). Under anaerobic conditions, some soil microorganisms are capable of nitrate reduction using fuel oils as the carbon source, although nitrite may be an unwanted by-product. However, the addition of a small amount of oxygen (0.2 volume percent oxygen) to the medium can accelerate the degradation of the oil without the concomitant production of nitrite (Riss and Schweisfurth 1987). 

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