Widespread Microbial Adaptation in the Field - download poster presentation
The following poster was presented at the SETAC North America 33rd Annual Meeting in Long Beach, California in collaboration with Procter & Gamble and Akzo Nobel.
How a New Builder in Automatic Dishwashing Detergent Became Ready Biodegradable in the U.S.: Widespread Microbial Adaptation in the Field
Ed Schaefer, Wildlife International
An objective of this research was to establish if laboratory studies can accurately predict whether a new to the world down the drain chemical will become readily biodegradable following its commercialization in the marketplace. This was demonstrated using the 2010 North American (NA) market introduction of L-GLDA (Glutamatediacetate), a new builder as a phosphate replacement (Akzo Nobel) in automatic dishwashing (ADW) detergent. Although L-GLDA failed multiple biodegradation (OECD 301B) tests in NA, it had a low toxicity profile (LC50 100 mg/L) and showed the potential to become biodegradable in a higher tiered simulation (OECD 303A) when added as a component of domestic wastewater. Other evidence indicating L-GLDA's potential to degrade included the ability of an inoculum originating from the Netherlands to degrade it and the isolation of a bacterium that could utilize it as a sole nitrogen, carbon and energy source. The market introduction of this new builder and its subsequent widespread distribution in wastewater offered a unique opportunity to monitor potential microbial adaptation in the field and validate the use of laboratory tests to predict this phenomenon.
For more information, please contact Ed Schaefer.
