Shake flask biodegradation of 14 commercial phthalate esters

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Microbiology
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Phthalate esters are widely used as plasticizers in various products.
• Assessing the environmental fate and biodegradability of these chemicals is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the biodegradability of 14 commercial phthalate esters.
• To assess the effectiveness of a standard shake flask CO(2) evolution test for chemical screening.

Main Methods:

• An acclimated shake flask CO(2) evolution test was employed.
• Both primary (parent compound loss) and ultimate (CO(2) evolution) biodegradation were measured.
• Testing was conducted over a 28-day period.

Main Results:

• All 14 commercial phthalate esters demonstrated significant biodegradability.
• Primary biodegradation exceeded 90% for most compounds.
• Ultimate biodegradation averaged over 55% of theoretical yield within 28 days.

Conclusions:

• Commercial phthalate esters are susceptible to biodegradation by diverse microbial communities.
• The standard shake flask test is a reproducible and useful method for screening chemical biodegradability.
• These findings support the environmental assessment of plasticizers.