Average H2S Concentration Research Articles

Effect of Sulfide Removal on Sulfate Reduction at pH 5 in a Hydrogen Fed Gas-Lift Bioreactor

Biotechnological treatment of sulfate- and metal-ionscontaining acidic wastewaters from mining and metallurgical activities utilizes sulfate-reducing bacteria to produce sulfide that can subsequently precipitate metal ions. Reducing sulfate at a low pH has several advantages above neutrophilic sulfate reduction. This study describes the effect of sulfide removal on the reactor performance and microbial community in a high-rate sulfidogenic gas-lift bioreactor fed with hydrogen at a controlled internal pH of 5. Under sulfide removal conditions, 99% of the sulfate was converted at a hydraulic retention time of 24 h, reaching a volumetric activity as high as 51 mmol sulfate/l/d. Under nonsulfide removal conditions, <25% of the sulfate was converted at a hydraulic retention time of 24 h reaching volumetric activities of <13mmol sulfate/l/d. The absence of sulfide removal at a hydraulic retention time of 24 h resulted in an average H2S concentration of 18.2 mM (584 mg S/l). The incomplete sulfate removal was probably due to sulfide inhibition. Molecular phylogenetic analysis identified 11 separate 16S rRNA bands under sulfide stripping conditions, whereas under nonsulfide removal conditions only 4 separate 16S rRNA bands were found. This shows that a less diverse population was found in the presence of a high sulfide concentration.

Gastrointestinal and microbial responses to sulfate-supplemented drinking water in mice.

There is increasing evidence that hydrogen sulfide (H2S), produced by intestinal sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), may be involved in the etiopathogenesis of chronic diseases such as ulcerative colitis and colorectal cancer. The activity of SRB, and thus H2S production, is likely determined by the availability of sulfur-containing compounds in the intestine. However, little is known about the impact of dietary or inorganic sulfate on intestinal sulfate and SRB-derived H2S concentrations. In this study, the effects of short-term (7 day) and long-term (1 year) inorganic sulfate supplementation of the drinking water on gastrointestinal (GI) sulfate and H2S concentrations (and thus activity of resident SRBs), and the density of large intestinal sulfomucin-containing goblet cells, were examined in C3H/HeJBir mice. Additionally, a PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)-based molecular ecology technique was used to examine the impact of sulfate-amended drinking water on microbial community structure throughout the GI tract. Average H2S concentrations ranged from 0.1 mM (stomach) to 1 mM (cecum). A sulfate reduction assay demonstrated in situ production of H2S throughout the GI tract, confirming the presence of SRB. However, H2S generation and concentrations were greatest in the cecum and colon. Sulfate supplementation of drinking water did not significantly increase intestinal sulfate or H2S concentrations, suggesting that inorganic sulfate is not an important modulator of intestinal H2S concentrations, although it altered the bacterial profiles of the stomach and distal colon of 1-year-old mice. This change in colonic bacterial profiles may reflect a corresponding increase in the density of sulfomucin-containing goblet cells in sulfate-supplemented compared with control mice.

On the carbon and sulphur metabolism in the meromictic Lake Faro (Sicily)

The processes of photosynthesis, chemosynthesis and sulphate reduction were quantitatively studied in the brackish meromitic lake Faro (Sicily) with the aid of C14 and S35. The layer of “red water” was situated at the depht of the chemocline (13–14 m), where the average concentration of H2S was 10 mg/l. The total biomass of bacterioplankton consisted in this layer mostly of a brown Chlorobium which reached a wet weight of 30 g/m3. The production of photosynthesis in this layer was 30–60 µg C/l/day. The microbial population in the “red water” was found adapted to an extremely low light intensity and to show a light optimum at the depth µg 9m where only 2,5% of outside light penetrates. The photoautotrophic microflora is consumed by infusoria found in mass in the “red water” layer. An active H2S-production was found in the water column in the upper part of the H2S-zone and in the bottom sediments. The data are discussed from the view point of the trophology of meromitic basins.