GERBAM — Deuxième Colloque International de Bactériologie marine — CNRS, Brest, 1-5 octobre 1984
IFREMER, Actes de Colloques, 3, 1986, pp. 629-632
76
EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEMS FOR THE STUDY OF BACTERIAL DEGRADATION OF POLLUTANTS FROM THE OIL INDUSTRY
J.N. WARDELL and C.M. BROWN.
Department of Brewing and Biological Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Chambers
Street, EDINBURGH (UK)
ABSTRACT - The release of pollutants into the environment, either during normal operations or due to
accidental discharges, has focussed attention on the fate and effects of xenobiotic compounds in the marine
environment. This interest has been heightened by the development of the off-shore industry with the
subsequent discharge of biocides from platforms. This paper describes the results obtained from investigations
into the fate of biocides in the marine environment using continuous-culture techniques.
Key words : biodegradation, continuous-culture, biocides.
RÉSUMÉ : La décharge de polluants, qu’elle soit chronique ou relative à des rejets accidentels, a attiré l’attention
sur le devenir et les effets des composés xenobiotiques dans le milieu marin. Cet intérêt a été croissant avec le
développement de l’industrie off-shore et les rejets de biocides à partir des plateformes qui ont suivi. Ce papier
décrit les résultats obtenus lors de travaux menés en milieu marin sur le devenir de biocides et utilisant les
techniques de cultures en continu.
Mots clés : biodégradation, culture en continu, biocides.
INTRODUCTION
An increasing number of pollutants are released into the environment by industry either
through normal operations or as a result of accidental discharges. The development of
the off-shore industry with the subsequent discharge of a number of oil based pollutants
and, in particular, biocides from platforms has heightened interest in the environmental
impact of these compounds and their subsequent transformation or degradation.
Substantial quantities of biocides find their way into the marine environment as a result
of off-shore operations. Biocides are used extensively by the oil industry in two main
areas ; to inhibit biological fouling of storage tanks, pipelines and off-shore structures,
secondly, to inhibit microbial growth in injection water during secondary oil recovery
(Crouch 1982, Wilkinson 1982).
In recent years, the fate of examples of biocides have been investigated in our laboratory
using continuous-culture systems.
The rationale behind this approach is that while direct plating methods and batch culture
enrichments are obviously useful, they each have drawbacks for this kind of investigation. Where the microbial population is sparse and rates of activity low, such techniques are useful to give an indication of the number of organisms present, however, one
cannot be sure that the population isolated is truly representative of the natural autochthonous population. Similarly, experiments carried out under batch culture condi629
IFREMER, Actes de Colloques, 3, 1986, pp. 629-632
76
EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEMS FOR THE STUDY OF BACTERIAL DEGRADATION OF POLLUTANTS FROM THE OIL INDUSTRY
J.N. WARDELL and C.M. BROWN.
Department of Brewing and Biological Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Chambers
Street, EDINBURGH (UK)
ABSTRACT - The release of pollutants into the environment, either during normal operations or due to
accidental discharges, has focussed attention on the fate and effects of xenobiotic compounds in the marine
environment. This interest has been heightened by the development of the off-shore industry with the
subsequent discharge of biocides from platforms. This paper describes the results obtained from investigations
into the fate of biocides in the marine environment using continuous-culture techniques.
Key words : biodegradation, continuous-culture, biocides.
RÉSUMÉ : La décharge de polluants, qu’elle soit chronique ou relative à des rejets accidentels, a attiré l’attention
sur le devenir et les effets des composés xenobiotiques dans le milieu marin. Cet intérêt a été croissant avec le
développement de l’industrie off-shore et les rejets de biocides à partir des plateformes qui ont suivi. Ce papier
décrit les résultats obtenus lors de travaux menés en milieu marin sur le devenir de biocides et utilisant les
techniques de cultures en continu.
Mots clés : biodégradation, culture en continu, biocides.
INTRODUCTION
An increasing number of pollutants are released into the environment by industry either
through normal operations or as a result of accidental discharges. The development of
the off-shore industry with the subsequent discharge of a number of oil based pollutants
and, in particular, biocides from platforms has heightened interest in the environmental
impact of these compounds and their subsequent transformation or degradation.
Substantial quantities of biocides find their way into the marine environment as a result
of off-shore operations. Biocides are used extensively by the oil industry in two main
areas ; to inhibit biological fouling of storage tanks, pipelines and off-shore structures,
secondly, to inhibit microbial growth in injection water during secondary oil recovery
(Crouch 1982, Wilkinson 1982).
In recent years, the fate of examples of biocides have been investigated in our laboratory
using continuous-culture systems.
The rationale behind this approach is that while direct plating methods and batch culture
enrichments are obviously useful, they each have drawbacks for this kind of investigation. Where the microbial population is sparse and rates of activity low, such techniques are useful to give an indication of the number of organisms present, however, one
cannot be sure that the population isolated is truly representative of the natural autochthonous population. Similarly, experiments carried out under batch culture condi629