The objectives of this study were to look at the effect of kaolinite and cadmium on the biodegradation of naphthalene and substituted naphthalenes. The kaolinite mineral is present in many Quebec soils and is a primary constituent of tropical soils. Since kaolinite is also a well defined mineral, experiments were performed to examine the effect kaolinite might play on the degradation of naphthalene, 2-methyl naphthalene, and 2-naphthol in the presence and absence of cadmium. Furthermore, the results from these analyses were used to interpret the behaviour in the mineralization experiments of each PAH, using the Gram-negative species Pseudomonas putida (ATCC #17484). / The results of this study indicate that the presence of cadmium did not significantly alter the mineralization capacity of P. putida for naphthalene, 2-methyl naphthalene, and 2-naphthol. The presence of kaolinite however, did affect microbial activity by significantly reducing the rates of PAH mineralization. These results illustrate the need to identify the general mechanisms of interactions to develop effective bioremediation programs for contaminated sites. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.24011 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Hibbeln, Kim Sabine. |
| Contributors | Yong, Raymond (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001537755, proquestno: MM19820, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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