Bio-removal of mixture of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes/total petroleum hydrocarbons/trichloroethylene from contaminated water

Four pure cultures were isolated from soil samples potentially contaminated with gasoline compounds either at a construction site near a gas station in Fai Chi Kei, Macau SAR or in the northern parts of China (Beijing, and Hebei and Shandong). The e ects of di erent concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and three isomers (ortho-, meta-, and para-) of xylene (BTEX), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), and trichloroethylene (TCE), when they were present in mixtures, on the bio-removal e ciencies of microbial isolates were investigated, together with their interactions during the bio-removal process. When the isolates were tested for the BTEX (50–350 mg/L)/TPH (2000 mg/L) mixture, BTEoX in BTEoX/TPH mixture was shown with higher bio-removal e ciencies, while BTEmX in BTEmX/TPH mixture was shown with the lowest, regardless of isolates. The TPH in BTEmX/TPH mixture, on the other hand, were generally shown with higher bio-removal e ciencies compared to when TPH mixed with BTEoX and BTEpX. When these BTEX mixtures (at 350 mg/L) were present with TCE (5–50 mg/L), the stimulatory e ect of TCE toward BTEoX bio-removal was observed for BTEoX/TCE mixture, while the inhibitory e ect of TCE toward BTEmX for BTEmX/TCE mixture. The bio-removal e ciency for TPH was shown lower in TPH (2000 mg/L)/TCE (5–50 mg/L) mixtures compared to TPH present alone, implying the inhibitory e ect of TCE toward TPH bio-removal. For the mixture of BTEX (417 mg/L), TPH (2000 mg/L) along with TCE (5– 50 mg/L), TCE was shown co-metabolically removed more e ciently at 15 mg/L, probably utilizing BTEX and/or TPH as primary substrates.