Biotic Reactions

It has been shown that a combination of photolytic and biotic reactions can result in enhanced degradation of xenobiotics in municipal treatment systems, for example, of chlorophenols (Miller et al. 1988a) and benzo[a]pyrene (Miller et al. 1988b). Two examples illustrate the success of a combination of microbial and photochemical reactions in accomplishing the degradation of widely different xenobiotics in natural ecosystems. Both of them involved marine bacteria, and it therefore seems plausible to assume that such processes might be especially important in warm-water marine enviromnents. 

Abiotic hydrolysis generally accomplishes only a single step in the ultimate degradation of the compounds that have been used for illustration. The intervention of snbseqnent biotic reactions is therefore almost invariably necessary for their complete mineralization. 

The operation of these hydrolytic reactions is independent of the oxygen concentration of the system so that—in contrast to biotic degradation and transformation—these reactions may occur effectively under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. 

Methylation of both metals and metalloids has been observed for both fungi and bacteria. These metabolites may, however, be toxic to higher biota as a result of their volatility. The Minamata syndrome represents the classic example of the toxicity of forms of methylated Hg to man, even though the formation of Hg(CH3)2 was probably the result of both biotic and abiotic reactions. 

Only controls using inhibitors of microbial growth are possible for microcosm experiments, and these may be impractical for outdoor systems, which therefore combine and may fail to discriminate abiotic and biotic reactions. 

Elements such as C, N, O, S, and Cl that are components of many organic compounds exist naturally as mixtures of stable isotopes. The ratios of these in a compound reflect the different rates of reaction at isotopically labeled positions, and therefore reflect the fractionation—biotic or abiotic—by which it was synthesized or to which the compound has been subjected. Techniques have been developed whereby the ratios C/ C (5 C), (5 N), (5 0),... 

Chapters 1 through 4 provide a broad perspective on abiotic and biotic reactions, including the significance of a range of environmental determinants. 

---