ABSTRACT
A biodegradable solvent was used in a two-phase aqueous-organic system for hydrophobic VOC (volatile organic compounds) elimination by activated sludge. Experiments, conducted with hexadecane as solvent and toluene as VOC, showed that toluene was removed simultaneously with part of the organic solvent elimination; cells were readily able to completely consume the toluene available at low and even at high concentrations within 48 h, even if they were not previously pre-adapted to these substrates.
