AASERT-92 Research Training for Understanding the Fate of Environmental Pollutants.
Abstract
This award supported the training of two graduate students at Cornell University in their efforts to apply geochemical, physiological, and genetic approaches to understanding the fate of naphthalene in groundwater and sediments at a coal-tar contaminated field site. Three major scientific goals were accomplished. First, we extended methods and criteria for proving that environmental contaminants are actively being biodegraded in real time by using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to detect a transient intermediate metabolite (1,2-dihydroxy-1,2-dihydronaphthalene) in site waters. Second, we applied molecular procedures to extend understanding of genetic processes that affect environmental contaminants by extracting DNA from site sediments, using PCR to amplify the naphthalene catabolic gene, and contrasting restriction digests of the site-and pure culture-derived genes. Third, using a combination of field and laboratory procedures, we tested several hypotheses for explaining the persistence of naphthalene in the field site. We concluded that in situ oxygen limitation and reduced bioavailability were the causes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 31, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA315375
Entities
People
- Eugene L. Madsen
Organizations
- Cornell University