Emission Factors of Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds from Environmental Bacteria and Fungi

Abstract

Knowledge of the factors controlling the diverse chemical emissions of common environmental bacteria and fungi is crucial because they are important signal molecules for these microbes that also could influence humans. We show here not only a high diversity of mVOCs but that their abundance can differ greatly in different environmental contexts. Microbial volatiles exhibit dynamic changes across microbial growth phases, resulting in variance of composition and emission rate of species-specific and generic mVOCs. In vitro experiments documented emissions of a wide range of mVOCs (>400 different chemicals) at high time resolution from diverse microbial species grown under different controlled conditions on nutrient media, or residential structural materials ( N = 54, N = 23). Emissions of mVOCs varied not only between microbial taxa at a given condition but also as a function of life stage and substrate type. We quantify emission factors for total and specific mVOCs normalized for respiration rates to account for the microbial activity during their stationary phase. Our VOC measurements of different microbial taxa indicate that a variety of factors beyond temperature and water activity, such as substrate type, microbial symbiosis, growth phase, and lifecycle affect the magnitude and composition of mVOC emission.

Oxygen‐Containing Compounds Identified in Groundwater from Fuel Release Sites Using GCxGC‐TOF‐MS

“…The ranked listing of TICs and the results of multivariate analyses demonstrating similarities in the frequently identified compounds between upgradient and downgradient locations raise questions as to which compounds are petroleum degradation intermediates and which may be products of microbial biosynthesis. While some of the compounds identified in downgradient wells do have carbon structures consistent with fuel hydrocarbons, such as the adamantine oxidation product1‐adamantanol (Yang et al ), or the branched and cyclic alcohols, many common TICs, such as C9 to C18 fatty acids, have structures that could also be the result of secondary production by microorganisms growing on any carbon source (Scavia ; Misztal et al ). The growth of microorganisms on simple substrates is known to result in a complex mixture of dissolved organic compounds (Lechtenfeld et al ).…”

The atmospheric chemistry of indoor environments

“…[29][30][31][47][48][49][50][51] -Microbes: VOCs. 52 -Consumer products: phthalates and many others, including volatile chemical products (VCPs). 53 -Combustion activities such as cigarette smoking, gas stoves, candle/incense burning: carbonaceous aerosol with black carbon and organic carbon components, VOCs, reactive nitrogen oxides (NO x ), nitrous acid (HONO), isocyanic acid (HNCO).…”

How do breath and skin emissions impact indoor air chemistry?

“…Such concentrations could be a concern for human health, though there is relatively little known about the toxicological effects of many of these pollutants at present. In addition, there is increasing evidence that there may be many more VOCs emitted from skin than those we consider here: Future model simulations will need to consider more of this newly available information . Finally, occupants also add to the reactivity of surfaces via transferring skin oils to surfaces, and through cooking or cleaning activity .…”

“…In addition, there is increasing evidence that there may be many more VOCs emitted from skin than those we consider here: Future model simulations will need to consider more of this newly available information. 54 Finally, occupants also add to the reactivity of surfaces via transferring skin oils to surfaces, and through cooking or cleaning activity. 7 Such processes may result in increased reactivity of indoor surfaces over time.…”