UC Irvine

Nitramines are potentially carcinogenic by-products of amines used in post-combustion CO2-capture. The influence of monoethanol (MEA)-, monomethyl (MMA)-, and dimethyl (DMA)-nitramines on the growth of environmental strains of bacteria, Pseudomonas fluorescens (P. fluorescens) and Rhodococcus spp. (R. spp.), was investigated in the laboratory. Additionally, the persistence of the nitramines in the presence of bacteria was determined. Growth of R. spp. was found to be sensitive to MMA-nitramine (EC50 = 157 mg L−1), while P. fluorescens growth was insensitive to all nitramines tested. Moreover, P. fluorescens was capable of degrading 8–10% of the nitramines during the 33 h experiments. Results from this study provide insight into important processes of bacterial response to nitramines that merit further investigation considering the ongoing implementation of CO2 capture technology.