SELECTIVE DETERMINATION OF ACRYLONITRILE, ACRYLAMIDE AND ACRYLIC-ACIDIN WASTE-WATERS USING MICROBIAL-CELLS

The possibility of using the respiratory activity of microbial cells f or the separate determination of acrylonitrile, acrylamide or acrylic acid in a mixture of these compounds has been demonstrated. The experi ments were conducted using the two bacterial strains Brevibacterium sp . and Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes, possessing different enzyme syste ms of acrylonitrile and acrylamide metabolism. The conditions to obtai n high respiratory activity of Brevibacterium sp, cells for acrylamide and/or for acrylic acid and of P. pseudoalcaligenes cells for acrylon itrile have been optimized. For the quantitation of the mentioned comp ounds, the concentration dependences of the cell respiratory activity were established, They were linear in the concentration diapason 0.14- 1.4 mM for acrylic acid, 0.14-1.0 mM for acrylamide and 0.02-0.10 mM f or acrylonitrile. The selectivity of the cell respiratory activity for various organic amides, nitriles and acids has been studied. Copyrigh t (C) 1996 Elsevier Science B.V.