ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NAPHTHALENE

ABSTRACT

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major constituents of hydrocarbon pollution especially in developing nations. Naphthalene is the simplest PAH pollutant of oil contaminated environments. Owing to its mutagenic teratogenic and genotoxic properties, United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) considered naphthalene as one of the 16 priority pollutant. This study was aimed at isolating and characterizing naphthalene-degrading bacterial isolates from automobile mechanic workshop soils located in Agbor, Delta State. Soil samples were collected from three automobile mechanic workshops using soil auger. The physicochemical properties of the soil samples were investigated adopting standard analytical methods. Enumeration and characterization of naphthalene-degrading bacterial isolates were carried out using standard bacteriological and molecular techniques. The cytotoxicity effects of naphthalene on in-vitro models (HepG2 cell lines) were studied. Shake flask experiment was carried out to determine the biodegradation profile of the bacterial isolates. Gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID) technique was used to determine the residual naphthalene. The catabolic genes (NahAc and PAH-RHD-GPα) were amplified using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques.