Impact of atmospheric pressure variations on aerobic biodegradation test

Abstract

Biodegradation rate is an important index to evaluate the environmental risk of chemicals, which is usually determined by measuring oxygen consumption through respirometer in a biodegradation test. However, atmospheric pressure variations affect reactor oxygen concentration and oxygen volume recorded by respirometer in biodegradation test, and the parameters of reactor volume and test material amount amplify its effect. Atmospheric pressure variation >1 kPa could introduce >20% underestimation in biodegradation rate when a small amount of test material (0.04–0.2 g per 100 g of inoculum) and high reactor volume (2–4 L) were used according to the international standards. A 5 kPa drop in atmospheric pressure leads to a 6% decrease in headspace oxygen concentration in the reactor, which could subsequently inhibit biodegradation microbials and decrease the biodegradation rate by 30%. Moreover, the biodegradation process (oxygen consumption rate) could be accelerated/delayed several times by atmospheric pressure variations compared to the process without variations when the oxygen consumption rate was <5 mL h−1 in a 0.5 or 1 L reactor and <10 mL h−1 in a 2-L reactor. Mitigating the effects of atmospheric pressure variations on biodegradation test includes lowering the reactor volume, increasing the test material amount and recording atmospheric pressure for further modification.