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Chemical and Microbiological Degradation of Malathion and Parathion in an Estuarine Environment¹

ABSTRACT

Malathion was essentially completely degraded during 18 days incubation in sterile and nonsterile water, while respective parathion losses ranged from 16 to 23% after 40 days. Malathion abatement was in direct proportion to increasing salinity, while parathion was quite persistent, even in high salinity (25 parts per thousand [ppt]) water.

Microorganisms capable of degrading malathion and parathion were isolated from insecticide-enriched sediment. Four bacteria isolated from malathion-enriched sediment readily degraded malathion, one to malathion half-ester and another to malathion dicarboxylic acid through the half-ester intermediate, and three bacteria isolated from parathion-enriched sediment were efficient in parathion metabolism. One bacterium isolated from parathion-enriched sediment was capable of degrading malathion to the diacid through the half-ester intermediate.

Key Words: water pollution • cometabolism • salinity effects • organophosphorus insecticides

¹ Contribution from the Microbiology Section, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, MS 39564.

² Microbiologist.

Received for publication April 11, 1975.