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Re: motor oil decomposition
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Subject: Re: motor oil decomposition
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From: SEELIGERC@AXE.HUMBOLDT.EDU
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Date: 21 Feb 1995 22:11:58 -0800
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Article: 1502 of bionet.mycology
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Distribution: world
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Newsgroups: bionet.mycology
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Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology
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References: <95022018114029@hugo.fsufay.edu>
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Sender: daemon@net.bio.net
On Mon, 20 Feb 1995 prdhaas@HUGO.FSUFAY.EDU wrote:
> does anyone know if there are organisms in nature that break down motor oil
> given enough time? As you probably know many people dispose of oil in the
> terrestrial environment. What eventualy happens to this oil. Will it
> end up in the water supply?
A grad student here recently worked on bioremediation of diesel spills.
In greenhouse trials comparing unfertilized soil, fertilized soil, a
specially engineered bacterium, the special bacteria with fertilizer, and
a control, she found no significant difference between the non-control
treatments, and a significant increase in rate of diesel breakdown over a
three month period. After three months, the soil that had been
fertilized had gone from 5000 ppm diesel to under 100 (possibly under 10,
I forget...)
Hope this helps,
cur
seeligerc@axe.humboldt.edu