Baseline Herpetological Data Collection Efforts in Mendocino County

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, commonly called PAHs, are chemicals with a double-ring structure that contain carbon and hydrogen, and are organic. These chemicals are often introduced into the environment through such natural and artificial means as volcanic eruption, the burning of coal, or the operation of internal combustion engines. There are over 100 types of PAHs, many of which are considered by the Department of Health and Human Services to be possible carcinogens. Further, these PAHs are found in at least 600 of the industrial cleanup sites listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities Lists, making their cleanup an important area of research.
Many of the PAHs are forms of methylated naphthalene and are found in engine exhaust and oil. A possible carcinogen, naphthalene and its methylated forms make their way into the nation’s water supplies where ships in rivers, bays, and channels expel their exhaust into the water. Spilled oil can put this and other chemicals into groundwater. These types of exposures are common across the country and show the need for cleanup procedures outside of just the heavily polluted Superfund industrial sites. Fortunately, these chemicals can be bioremediated using certain bacteria, including Pseudomonas putida. The effect of these reactions and the rates at which they occur continue to be a major area of study. Once this information can be isolated, it may be possible to use laboratory-grown bacteria introduced into the environment to help remove the threats that these chemicals continue to pose to our nation’s health. Determining the effects and rates of these reactions are the principle objectives of this research. With sufficient testing, graphs may be used to predict rates of consumption by certain bacteria of these methylated naphthalenes, and eventually other PAHs.