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The bioavailability and biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be increased through the addition of surfactants. Previous studies of this nature have been conducted under mesophilic conditions. Hence, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of synthetic surfactants and biosurfactants on solubilization and degradation of phenanthrene (PHE) in a series of batch solution experiments under thermophilic conditions. Tween 80, Triton X-100, and biosurfactants produced from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain P-CG3 (P-CG3) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027 (P. 9027) were used in this study. Surfactants effectively enhanced the solubility of PHE at 50 degrees C and the biosurfactant from P-CG3 was most effective with a 28-fold increase in apparent solubility of PHE at a concentration of 10 x critical micelle concentration (CMC) compared with the controls. However, addition of synthetic surfactants or biosurfactants inhibited the biodegradation of PHE in mineral salts medium by an isolate Bacillus sp. B-UM. Degradation of PHE diminished with increasing surfactant concentrations, and PHE degradation was completely inhibited for all the surfactants tested when the concentrations were greater than their respective CMC. The growth test suggested that Tween 80 and biosurfactants were degradable, but preferential utilization of these surfactants as substrates was not the mechanism for explaining the inhibition of PHE biodegradation. Because of the hydrophobic property of B-UM, degradation inhibition of PHE by surfactants was probably due to the reduction of direct contact between bacterial cells and PHE.

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A thermophilic bacterial strain, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus BU03, with a biosurfactant-producing capability, was isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil with an improved procedure which employed the solubilization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), i.e. naphthalene in agar plate, as a selection criterion. Crude biosurfactant was recovered from the culture of BU03 by extraction with n-hexane, and its properties were investigated. Biosurfactants from A. calcoaceticus BU03 constitute a thermo-stable mixture, composed of different agents with surface activities. At their critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 152.4 mg L(-1), the crude biosurfactants produced from A. calcoaceticus BU03 decreased the air-water surface tension to 38.4 mN m(-1). In thermophilic conditions, the emulsifying activity is 2.8 times that of Tween 80. The effects of the biosurfactants produced by A. calcoaceticus on the solubility and biodegradation of PAHs were investigated in batch systems. Biosurfactants produced by A. calcoaceticus BU03 at 25 times their CMC significantly increased the apparent aqueous solubility of phenanthrene (PHE), pyrene (PYR) and benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P) to 54.3, 6.33 and 2.08 mg L(-1), respectively. In aqueous system, the biosurfactants at concentrations of 0.5 CMC and 1 CMC slightly enhanced the biodegradation of PHE by a consortium of PAH-degrading microrganisms. Results indicate that biosurfactants from A. calcoaceticus BU03 have potential to enhance the removal of PAHs from contaminated sites.