This work aimed at evaluating the biodegradability of different bacterial surfactants in liquid medium and in soil microcosms. The biodegradability of biosurfactants by pure and mixed bacterial cultures was evaluated through CO(2) evolution. Three bacterial strains, Acinetobacter baumanni LBBMA ES11, Acinetobacter haemolyticus LBBMA 53 and Pseudomonas sp. LBBMA 101B, used the biosurfactants produced by Bacillus sp. LBBMA 111A (mixed lipopeptide), Bacillus subtilis LBBMA 155 (lipopeptide), Flavobacterium sp. LBBMA 168 (mixture of flavolipids), Dietzia Maris LBBMA 191(glycolipid) and Arthrobacter oxydans LBBMA 201(lipopeptide) as carbon sources in minimal medium. The synthetic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was also mineralized by these microorganisms, but at a lower rate. CO(2) emitted by a mixed bacterial culture in soil microcosms with biosurfactants was higher than in the microcosm containing SDS. Biosurfactant mineralization in soil was confirmed by the increase in surface tension of the soil aqueous extracts after incubation with the mixed bacterial culture. It can be concluded that, in terms of biodegradability and environmental security, these compounds are more suitable for applications in remediation technologies in comparison to synthetic surfactants. However, more information is needed on structure of biosurfactants, their interaction with soil and contaminants and scale up and cost for biosurfactant production.

The acute toxicity of bacterial surfactants LBBMA111A, LBBMA155, LBBMA168, LBBMA191 and LBBMA201 and the synthetic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri was evaluated by measuring the reduction of light emission (EC(20)) by this microorganism when exposed to different surfactant concentrations. Moreover, the toxic effects of different concentrations of biological and synthetic surfactants on the growth of pure cultures of isolates Acinetobacter baumannii LBBMA04, Acinetobacter junni LBBMA36, Pseudomonas sp. LBBMA101B and Acinetobacter baumanni LBBMAES11 were evaluated in mineral medium supplemented with glucose. The EC(20) values obtained confirmed that the biosurfactants have a significantly lower toxicity to V. fischeri than the SDS. After 30 min of exposure, bacterial luminescence was almost completely inhibited by SDS at a concentration of 4710 mg L(-1). Growth reduction of pure bacterial cultures caused by the addition of biosurfactants to the growth medium was lower than that caused by SDS.

Surfactants and inorganic ligands are pointed as efficient to simultaneous removal of heavy metals and hydrophobic organic pollutants from soil. However, the biosurfactants are potentially less toxic to soil organisms than other chemical agents. Thus, in this study the efficiency of combinations of iodide (I(-)) ligand and surfactants produced by different bacterial species in the simultaneous removal of cadmium (Cd(2+)) and phenanthrene in a Haplustox soil sample was investigated. Four microbial surfactants and the synthetic surfactant Triton X-100 were tested with different concentrations of ligand. Soil samples contaminated with Cd(2+) and phenanthrene underwent consecutive washings with a surfactant/ligand solution. The removal of Cd(2+) increased with increased ligand concentration, particularly in solutions containing biosurfactants produced by the bacterial strains Bacillus subtilis LBBMA155 (lipopeptide) and Flavobacterium sp. LBBMA168 (mixture of flavolipids) and Triton X-100. Maximum Cd(2+) removal efficiency was 99.2% for biosurfactant produced by Arthrobacter oxydans LBBMA 201 (lipopeptide) and 99.2% for biosurfactant produced by Bacillus sp. LBBMA111A (mixed lipopeptide) in the presence of 0.336 mol iodide l(-1), while the maximum efficiency of Triton X-100 removal was 65.0%. The biosurfactant solutions removed from 80 to 88.0% of phenanthrene in soil, and the removal was not influenced by the presence of the ligand. Triton X-100 removed from 73 to 88% of the phenanthrene and, differently from the biosurfactants, iodide influenced the removal efficiency. The results indicate that the use of a single washing agent, called surfactant-ligand, affords simultaneous removal of organic contaminants and heavy metals.

The eutrophication of aquifers is strongly linked to the mobility of P in soils. Although P mobility was considered irrelevant in a more distant past, more recent studies have shown that P, both in organic (Po) and inorganic forms (Pi), can be lost by leaching and eluviation through the soil profile, particularly in less weathered and/or sandier soils with low P adsorption capacity. The purpose of this study was to determine losses of P forms by leaching and eluviation from soil columns. Each column consisted of five PVC rings (diameter 5 cm, height 10 cm), filled with two soil types: a clayey Red-Yellow Latosol and a sandy loam Red-Yellow Latosol, which were exposed to water percolation. The soils were previously treated with four P rates (as KH2PO4 ) to reach 0, 12.5, 25.0 and 50 % of the maximum P adsorption capacity (MPAC). The P source was homogenized with the whole soil volume and incubated for 60 days. After this period the soils were placed in the columns; the soil of the top ring was mixed with five poultry litter rates of 0, 20, 40, 80, and 160 t ha-1 (dry weight basis). Treatments consisted of a 4 x 5 x 2 factorial scheme corresponding to four MPAC levels, five poultry litter rates, two soils, with three replications, arranged in a completely randomized block design. Deionized water was percolated through the columns 10 times in 35 days to simulate about 1,200 mm rainfall. In the leachate of each column the inorganic P (reactive P, Pi) and organic P forms (unreactive P, Po) were determined. At the end of the experiment, the columns were disassembled and P was extracted with the extractants Mehlich-1 (HCl 0.05 mol L-1 and H2SO4 0.0125 mol L-1) and Olsen (NaHCO3 0.5 mol L-1; pH 8.5) from the soil of each ring. The Pi and Po fractions were measured by the Olsen extractant. It was found that under higher poultry litter rates the losses of unreactive P (Po) were 6.4 times higher than of reactive P (Pi). Both the previous P fertilization and increasing poultry litter rates caused a vertical movement of P down the soil columns, as verified by P concentrations extracted by Mehlich-1 and NaHCO3 (Olsen). The environmental critical level (ECL), i.e., the P soil concentration above which P leaching increases exponentially, was 100 and 150 mg dm-3 by Mehlich-1 and 40 and 60 mg dm-3 by Olsen, for the sandy loam and clay soils, respectively. In highly weathered soils, where residual P is accumulated by successive crops, P leaching through the profile can be significant, particularly when poultry litter is applied as fertilizer.

RESUMOCom o incremento exponencial da avicultura no Brasil, a disponibilidade de dejetos de aves e de cama de aviário tem aumentado de maneira semelhante. A proibição de uso desses produtos na ração animal tem feito com que eles sejam direcionados para a produção agrícola como fertilizantes. Ainda há na literatura carência de informação sobre lixiviação de bases no perfil do solo em conseqüência do efeito de ânions inorgânicos acompanhantes, como cloreto, nitrato e sulfato, e do efeito complexante de ácidos orgânicos de baixa massa molecular. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o efeito da aplicação de cama de aviário na lixiviação de Ca, Mg, K e Na em solos e sua associação com ânions inorgânicos e ácidos orgânicos de baixa molecular. Amostras de dois Latossolos Vermelho-Amarelos, um de textura média e outro de textura argilosa, foram colocadas em colunas de PVC constituídas de cinco anéis, cada um com 10 cm de altura e 5 cm de diâmetro, ligados entre si com fita adesiva. O solo colocado no anel superior recebeu, homogeneamente, cinco tipos de camas de aviário: casca de café, casca de arroz, sabugo de milho,