Solubility of toluene, benzene and TCE in high-microbial concentration systems.

We report measurements of solubility limits for benzene, toluene, and TCE in systems that contain varying levels of biomass up to 0.13 g mL(-1) for TCE and 0.25 g mL(-1) for benzene and toluene. The solubility limit increased from 21 to 48 mM when biomass (in the form of yeast) was added to aqueous batch systems containing benzene. The toluene solubility limit increased from 4.9 to greater than 20mM. For TCE, the solubility increased from 8mM to more than 1000 mM. Solubility for TCE (trichloroethylene) was most heavily impacted by biomass levels, changing by two orders of magnitude as the microbial concentrations approach those in biofilms.