Biodegradation of Nitrilotriacetic Acid and Related Imino and Amino Acids in River Water

Abstract
With a gas chromatography procedure capable of quantitatively detecting nitrilotriacetic acid, N -methyliminodiacetic acid, iminodiacetic acid, sarcosine, and glycine at concentrations of 0.025 milligram per liter, it was shown that these compounds were biodegraded by river water. In particular, nitrilotriacetic acid was degraded without the accumulation of any of the amino acids mentioned above or the appearance of any new peaks in the gas chromatography analysis.