Toluene is known to be the most popular solvent for industrial use,1,2) and attention has been paid on the possibility of biological monitoring of toluene exposure by urinalysis for metabolites such as hippuric acid and o-creso1.3-5) In a previous study6) on possible ethnic difference in toluene metabolism, it was disclosed that Chinese toluene workers excrete less hippuric acid in urine than t...

for AICHE 2004 [15C12] Advances in Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering Tailoring Toluene para-Monooxygenase of Ralstonia pickettii PKO1 for Regiospecific Oxidation of Aromatics Using Active Site Engineering A. Fishman, Y. Tao, W. E. Bentley, and T. K. Wood University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT University of Maryland, College Park, MD Oxygenases are promising biocatalysts for performing selecti...

A microbial consortium derived from a gasoline-contaminated aquifer was enriched on toluene (T) in a chemostat at 20 degrees C and was found to degrade benzene (B), ethylbenzene (E), and xylenes (X). Studies conducted to determine the optimal temperature for microbial activity revealed that cell growth and toluene degradation were maximized at 35 degrees C. A consortium enriched at 35 degrees C...

This study focuses on detailed characterizations of asphaltene fractions extracted from the Algerian Hassi-Messaoud oil field. It was found that asphaltenes are not completely soluble in toluene, instead two were obtained upon solubilizing heptane-precipitated neat toluene. Extensive toluene-soluble and insoluble carried out using elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogra...

Spectral scanning was used to provide estimates of the leakage of the cyanogenic glucoside, dhurrin (p-hydroxy-[S]-mandelonitrile-beta-d-glucoside), and its metabolite, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (p-HB), from young light-grown shoots of Atlas sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) when these shoots were immersed in water, toluene, chloroform or mixtures of water and toluene or water and chloroform. M...

In a group of 37 rotogravure printers a close correlation (rs = 0.78) was found between the time weighted toluene exposure during a five day working week (range 8-416 mg/m3, median 75) and the concentration of toluene in subcutaneous adipose tissue (range 1.1-20.7 mg/kg, median 3.8). After exposure ceased, the elimination of toluene was followed up in 11 subjects. The toluene concentration in v...

A bacterial biosensor for benzene, toluene, and similar compounds has been constructed, characterized, and field tested on contaminated water and soil. The biosensor is based on a plasmid incorporating the transcriptional activator xylR from the TOL plasmid of Pseudomonas putida mt-2. The XylR protein binds a subset of toluene-like compounds and activates transcription at its promoter, Pu. A re...

In the present work, kinetics of the biodegradation of benzene, toluene and phenol by using a pure culture of Pseudomonas putida (MTCC 1194) was determined by measuring the specific growth rate and degradation rate with substrate concentration as a function of time in a batch reactor. In general, the degradation rate of benzene, toluene and phenol increased with the increase in the initial subs...

The adsorption equilibria of toluene from aqueous solutions on natural and modified diatomite were examined at different operation parameters such as pH, contact time, initial toluene concentration was evaluated and optimum experimental conditions were identified. The surface area and morphology of the nanoparticles were characterized by SEM, BET, XRD, FTIR and EDX analysis. It was found that i...

Eight male subjects were experimentally exposed to toluene, p-xylene, and a combination of toluene and p-xylene in order to study the influence of coexposure and exposure to different levels of each solvent on their uptake and elimination. The exposures were performed for four hours at exposure levels equivalent to or lower than the Swedish threshold limit value for toluene, 300 mg/m3 (3.2 mmol...