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Toluene and m-xylene were rapidly mineralized in an anaerobic laboratory aquifer column operated under continuous-flow conditions with nitrate as an electron acceptor. The oxidation of toluene and m-xylene was coupled with the reduction of nitrate, and mineralization was confirmed by trapping 14CO2 evolved from 14C-ring-labeled substrates. Substrate degradation also took place when nitrous oxide replaced nitrate as an electron acceptor, but decomposition was inhibited in the presence of molecular oxygen or after the substitution of nitrate by nitrite. The m-xylene-adapted microorganisms in the aquifer column degraded toluene, benzaldehyde, benzoate, m-toluylaldehyde, m-toluate, m-cresol, p-cresol, and p-hydroxybenzoate but were unable to metabolize benzene, naphthalene, methylcyclohexane, and 1,3-dimethylcyclohexane. Isotope-dilution experiments suggested benzoate as an intermediate formed during anaerobic toluene metabolism. The finding that the highly water-soluble nitrous oxide served as electron acceptor for the anaerobic mineralization of some aromatic hydrocarbons may offer attractive options for the in situ restoration of polluted aquifers.

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Up to 0.4 mM 1,3-dimethylbenzene (m-xylene) was rapidly mineralized in a laboratory aquifer column operated in the absence of molecular oxygen with nitrate as an electron acceptor. Under continuous flow conditions, the degradation rate constant (pseudo-first order) was >0.45 h-1. Based on a carbon mass balance with [ring-14C]m-xylene and a calculation of the electron balance, m-xylene was shown to be quantitatively (80%) oxidized to CO2 with a concomitant reduction of nitrate. The mineralization of m-xylene in the column also took place after reducing the redox potential, E', of the inflowing medium with sulfide to <-0.11 V. Microorganisms adapted to growth on m-xylene were also able to degrade toluene under denitrifying conditions. These results suggest that aromatic hydrocarbons present in anoxic environments such as lake sediments, sludge digestors, and groundwater infiltration zones from landfills and polluted rivers are not necessarily persistent but may be mineralized in the absence of molecular oxygen.

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The biodegradation of hydroxybenzoate isomers was investigated with samples obtained from two sites within a shallow anoxic aquifer. The metabolic fates of the substrates were compared in denitrifying, sulfate-reducing, and methanogenic incubations. Under the latter two conditions, phenol was detected as a major intermediate of p-hydroxybenzoate, but no metabolites were initially found with m-or o-hydroxybenzoate. However, benzoate accumulation was noted when metabolic inhibitors were used with these samples. About 9 to 17 days was required for >95% removal of the parent isomers under these conditions. When aquifer slurries were amended with nitrate, the equivalent removal of the hydroxybenzoates occurred within 4 days. In the denitrifying incubations, phenol was formed from all three hydroxybenzoates and accounted for about 30% of the initial substrate amendment. No benzoate was measured in these samples. All metabolites were identified by chromatographic mobility, mass spectral profiles, or both. Autoclaved controls were uniformly incapable of transforming the parent substrates. These results suggest that the anaerobic fate of hydroxybenzoate isomers depends on the relative substitution pattern and the prevailing ecological conditions. Furthermore, since these compounds are central metabolites formed during the breakdown of many aromatic chemicals, our findings may help provide guidelines for the reliable extrapolation of metabolic fate information from diverse anaerobic environments.

The potential for anaerobic biodegradation of 12 heterocyclic model compounds was studied. Nine of the model compounds were biotransformed in aquifer slurries under sulfate‐reducing or methanogenic conditions. The nitrogen and oxygen heterocyclic compounds were more susceptible to anaerobic biodegradation than those compounds containing a sulfur heteroatom. Carboxy‐substituted compounds were anaerobically metabolized more readily than unsubstituted or methylated analogues. In methanogenic incubations, 47 to 84% of the expected amount of carbon in pyridine, 4‐picoline, nicotinic acid and 2‐thiophene carboxylic acid was recovered as methane. In contrast, only small amounts of methane were detected in aquifer slurries amended with compounds containing an oxygen heteroatom, even though a decrease in the parent substrate concentration occurred. Pyridine, 2‐picoline and 4‐picoline were biotransformed within three months under sulfate‐reducing conditions. However, longer incubation times were required for the degradation of these substrates in methanogenic aquifer slurries. A literature survey reveals the widespread contamination of ground waters with heterocyclic compounds from waste management practice and fossil‐fuel‐related industries.