Environ. Sci. Technol. 2010, 44, 309–315
Evaluation of the Effects of Low Oxygen Concentration on Stable Isotope Fractionation during Aerobic MTBE Biodegradation M Ò N I C A R O S E L L , * ,† STEFANIE FINSTERBUSCH,† SVEN JECHALKE,† ¨ BSCHMANN,‡ THOMAS HU CARSTEN VOGT,† AND HANS H. RICHNOW† Department of Isotope Biogeochemistry, Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental ResearchsUFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Received August 14, 2009. Revised manuscript received November 5, 2009. Accepted November 9, 2009.
Laboratory experiments were performed with two aerobic MTBE degrading strains (Methylibium sp. PM1 and Aquincola tertiaricarbonaris L108) in order to determine whether conditions of low oxygen availability, typically found in fuelcontaminated aquifers, can influence stable isotope fractionation of MTBE. Although single carbon and hydrogen enrichment factors of the two strains were not significantly or were only slightly (L108) affected by low oxygen concentrations (fully oxic incubation with initial 21% O2 in the headspace tested versus hypoxic conditions always
