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Environmental fate & pathways

Biodegradation in water and sediment: simulation tests

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Description of key information

In anaerobic, static sediment/water microcosms, it is expected that TAEE does not biodegrade. 

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Additional information

No simulation tests with water and/or sediment are available for TAEE, but data are available for the structurally related aliphatic ether TAME. In an anaerobic, static sediment/water microcosm study TAME was not biodegraded in 180 days (6 months) under all conditions tested; sulfate and/or nitrate reducing conditions and/or methanogenic conditions (Mormile et al. 1994). Sediments were collected from sites chronically contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. Inoculum was indigenous sedimentary micro-organisms occurring under anoxic/anaerobic subsurface conditions.

After 182 days of incubation TAME did not biodegrade under the test conditions in anaerobic sediment/water test system (Suflita and Mormile, 1993). Samples were collected from sites of contaminated chronically with municipal landfill leachate.

The anaerobic biotransformation of TAME in sediments was evaluated under different anoxic electron-accepting conditions over 3 years by Somsamak et al. (2001). Enrichments were established with a polluted estuarine sediment inoculum under conditions promoting denitrification, sulfate reduction, Fe(III) reduction, or methanogenesis. Complete primary degradation of TAME was observed under sulfate-reducing conditions, concomitant with the reduction of sulfate. The primary degradation product of TAME was tert-amyl alcohol (TAA) indicating that O-demethylation was the initial step in TAME biodegradation under sulfate-reducing conditions. Further degradation of TAA did not occur. No transformation of TAME was observed under the other electron-accepting conditions over 3 years (Somsmak et al. 2001).