The research was focused on the slurry-phase biodegradation of naphthalene in soil. Among ex situ techniques, the slurry phase offers the advantage of increased availability of contaminants to bacteria. From naphthalene contaminated soil, a Pseudomonas putida M8 strain capable to degrade naphthalene was selected. Experiments were performed in a stirred and oxygenated reactor. In this study, the...

This is a compilation of abstracts of articles identified during the preliminary toxicological evaluation of evidence on the developmental and reproductive toxicity of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP, CAS# 50-32-8). BaP is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and a component of air pollution. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are formed as a result of incomplete combustion of organic materials and are ubiquito...

Microsomal aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase 4 is known to be present and inducible by polycyclic hydrocarbons in a variety of tissues of many species in vivo (5, 6, 12, 38, 40-43), in explants of rat lung in organ culture (42), and in mammalian cell cultures (24, 25). 5,6 This enzyme system may be important in understanding carcinogenesis, drug action, and steroid metabolism (4, 10). Polycyclic hyd...

Increasing public awareness of environmental pollution influences the search and development of technologies that help in clean up of organic and inorganic contaminants such as hydrocarbons and metals. An alternative and eco-friendly method of remediation technology of environments contaminated with these pollutants is the use of biosurfactants and biosurfactant-producing microorganisms. The di...

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a chlorinated hydrocarbon used as a solvent in many degreasing and dry-cleaning operations. TCE is one of the most widespread contaminants of soil and groundwater in the United States. It can be found at 50% of the Superfund National Priority List cleanup sites managed by the United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). According to the USEPA, TCE is also abo...

For more than 30 years, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor [Ah receptor (AHR)] has been extensively scrutinized as the cellular receptor for numerous environmental contaminants, including polychlorinated dioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls. Recent evidence argues that this description is incomplete and perhaps myopic. Ah receptor orthologs have been demonstrated to mediate diverse endogenous funct...

The research was focused on the slurry-phase biodegradation of naphthalene in soil. Among ex-situ techniques, the slurry-phase technique offers the advantage to increase the availability of contaminants to bacteria. From soil samples collected on a contaminated site, the Pseudomonas putida M8 strain capable to degrade naphthalene was selected. Experiments were performed in a stirred and oxygena...

Harbor sediments are often characterized by the presence of inorganic and organic contaminants, and this fact represents a relevant problem both when sediments are dredged and when they are left in the sea bottom. In this study we present the main results achieved by our research group in laboratory experiments addressed to marine sediment bioremediation. Dealing with sediments mainly contamina...