Searched For:

Metal Eating Bacteria

Reason for Search:

As I was writing Thursday’s post about holes in aluminum foil, I mentioned that I’d considered metal-munching bacteria as the culprit. Since I wasn’t sure if such a thing even existed, I did a quick search to make sure I wasn’t about to sound like an idiot.

Conclusions:

Bacteria don’t actually “eat” metals but they can corrode them. This is called MIC (Microbially-Induced Corrosion) and the main cause is sulfate-eating bacteria that produce sulfides as a waste product.

Useful Search Results:

http://www.corrosionclinic.com/types_of_corrosion/microbiologically_influenced_biological_microbial_corrosion.htm

CategoryScience Tagged ,