Prince R C
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co., Annandale, NJ 08801, USA.
Crit Rev Microbiol. 2000;26(3):163-78. doi: 10.1080/10408410008984175.
Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) has been added to gasoline in the U.S. for the last decade in order to meet the mandates of the 1990 Clean Air Act. This law decreed that gasoline sold in many locations must contain oxygenates to improve combustion and minimize air pollution. Unfortunately, this widespread use has led to the contamination of some soils and aquifers, and remediation is now required. Bioremediation has proven to be an environmentally responsible and cost-effective approach to remediating petroleum spills; this article reviews the potential that bioremediation may also be appropriate for remediating MTBE contamination. There is now good evidence that MTBE can be degraded by bacteria and fungi under aerobic conditions, and promising indications that the process also occurs under methanogenic and ferric iron-reducing conditions. Yet, apparently it is not a widespread phenomenon. The challenge is to find effective bioremediation strategies that maximize this biodegradation so that it can be used reliably in cleaning contaminated sites. Both simple biostimulation and more complex bioaugmentation protocols are being developed to meet this pressing need.
在过去十年里，美国一直将甲基叔丁基醚（MTBE）添加到汽油中，以满足1990年《清洁空气法》的要求。该法律规定，许多地方销售的汽油必须含有含氧化合物，以改善燃烧并将空气污染降至最低。不幸的是，这种广泛使用导致了一些土壤和含水层的污染，现在需要进行修复。生物修复已被证明是一种对环境负责且具有成本效益的石油泄漏修复方法；本文综述了生物修复也可能适用于修复MTBE污染的潜力。现在有充分的证据表明，MTBE在有氧条件下可被细菌和真菌降解，并且有迹象表明该过程在产甲烷和铁还原条件下也会发生。然而，显然这并不是一个普遍现象。挑战在于找到有效的生物修复策略，以最大限度地提高这种生物降解作用，从而能够可靠地用于清理受污染场地。为满足这一紧迫需求，正在开发简单的生物刺激和更复杂的生物强化方案。
