An Inhibition Study of the Effect of Azo Dyes on Bioactivity of Biofilms

Abstract

An inhibition study showed that toxic compounds caused two responses when present at low concentration. One is stimulation of the biomass by simply serving as an energy source; this caused an increase in the total respiration rate. The other is inhibition of the reaction. AR14 was more toxic than AO7 for biofilm from reactors fed with a primary substrate. However, AO7 demonstrated inhibition for biofilm from reactors fed with AR14 and primary substrate, and AR14 could serve as a carbon source for the same film.