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Aerobic Biodegradability and Toxicity of Non-Petroleum Oils
Vegetable oil spills are a widely known phenomenon, but are the least understood. These spills can be as devastating to the environment as petroleum oil spills. Previous laboratory research results have indicated that as vegetable oils degrade aerobically, the aqueous solutions become more toxic, as measured by the Microtox assay. As more research was conducted, it became clearer that the toxicity was not in the aqueous phase, only the oil phase. More definitive work is planned in FY05 to further understand the signficance of the aerobic biodegradation process.Contact: Albert D. Venosa, USEPA (EIMS#56297)