A stainless steel cylinder filled with soil was flushed upstream with a H2/CO2/air mixture. The consequence was a strong enrichment of the aerobic, autotrophic hydrogen‐oxidising microflora, which reached densities enabling them to oxidize 84.5 ml H2· dm−2· h−1 in the first 25‐cm layer. H2 concentration profiles, hydrogen uptake activity and cell numbers correlated well with each other. Most of the organisms isolated were dinitrogen fixers. Thus, soils containing hydrogen‐oxidising bacteria may act as a biological shield between H2‐rich environments and air, and may be utilized as biofilters, e.g., in the waste‐processing industry.
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