Biodegradation of phenol and catechol in cloud water: comparison to chemical oxidation in the atmospheric multiphase system

Abstract

The sinks of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere are usually described by oxidation reactions in the gas and aqueous (cloud) phases. Previous lab studies suggest that in addition to chemical processes, biodegradation by bacteria might also contribute to the loss of organics in clouds; however, due to the lack of comprehensive data sets on such biodegradation processes, they are not commonly included in atmospheric models. In the current study, we measured the biodegradation rates of phenol and catechol, which are known pollutants, by one of the most active strains selected during our previous screening in clouds (Rhodococcus enclensis). For catechol, biodegradation is about 10 times faster than for phenol. The experimentally derived biodegradation rates are included in a multiphase box model to compare the chemical loss rates of phenol and catechol in both the gas and aqueous phases to their biodegradation rate in the aqueous phase under atmospheric conditions. Model results show that the degradation rates in the aqueous phase by chemical and biological processes for both compounds are similar to each other. During day time, biodegradation of catechol is even predicted to exceed the chemical activity in the aqueous phase and to represent a significant sink (17 %) of total catechol in the atmospheric multiphase system. In general, our results suggest that atmospheric multiphase models may be incomplete for highly soluble organics as biodegradation may represent an unrecognized efficient loss of such organics in cloud water.