Oxidation of Selected Carcinogenic
Compounds by Activated Sludge
PHILIP A. LUTIN, Research Assistant
JOHN J. CIBULKA, Research Assistant
GEORGE W. MALANEY, Associate Professor of Sanitary Biology
Department of Civil Engineering
Vanderbilt University
Nashville,  Tennessee
INTRODUCTION
According to Rachel Carson, man is slowly but surely destroying the biota
within his life zone, even to the extent of self-destruction.
The ingestion of or contact with certain chemical compounds may cause
cancer in or on the human body. These compounds are referred to as carcinogenic.
The compounds known to be carcinogenic for lab animals are tabulated by Hart-
well (2) and Shubik and Hartwell (3).
In recent years, there have been several attempts to isolate carcinogenic
compounds from surface and waste waters. In 1951, Shimkin, Koe, and Zech-
meister reported the presence of 3,4-benzpyrene in extracts prepared from barnacles growing on pilings in San Francisco Bay. The bay water was contaminated
with ship fuel oil (4). In 1954, Ruchhoft and Hueper further demonstrated the
presence of carcinogenic pollutants in water (5). In the same year, Ruchhoft,
Middle ton, Braus, and Rosen identified petroleum refinery wastes in receiving waters (6). Almost simultaneously, Shubik and Saffiotti postulated that insufficiently
refined petroleum waxes and mineral oils employed as packaging material or foodstuffs might constitute a danger to the public health (7). Also, in 1954, Wedgwood
and Cooper studying sewage and industrial sludge recovered various polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons, including the carcinogens 3, 4-benzpyrene and 1,2-benzan-
thracene (8).
In a series of papers from 1959 to 1962, Borneff et al, reported the presence
of the carcinogens, 2-naphthylamine, 3,4-benzpyrene,1,2,5,6-dibenzanthracene,
20-methylcholanthrene, and 9,10-dimethyl-l, 2-benzanthracene in surface waters
(9,10,11).
Hueper, in 1960, called attention to the carcinogenic nature of herbicides and
pesticides including thioacetamide, thiourea, thiouracil, and several urethane derivatives (12). Hueper warned of the grave danger to human life if these carci -
nogenic compounds are not removed from water used for drinking and bathing.
A study was made of the efficiency of activated sludge treatment in removing
carcinogenic hydrocarbons from waste water by the oxidative mechanism. The
molecular structures of the compounds studied are shown in Figures 1 to 4. These
compounds have been demonstrated to be carcinogenic to laboratory animals when
ingested or contacted ectodermally.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Oxygen uptake was measured with a Warburg constant-volume respirometer
fitted with 125 ml reaction flasks. Each flask contained 1.0 ml of 20 per cent
KOH solution in the center well.
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