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A microcosm study was conducted to determine the mineralization and disappearance of cumene (isopropylbenzene) in an aerobic freshwater sediment/water test system. Ecocores (300 cm3) constructed of glass and Teflon® were filled with intact sediment cores and river water. [14C]‐cumene was added to the water phase, and the ecocores were incubated in the dark at 23°C with periodic aeration. Volatile organics and CO2 released to the ecocore headspace were trapped in separate impingers. In one experiment, ecocores were sacrificed after 45 d of incubation, with removal by volatilization and biodegradation accounting for the majority of 14C initially added as cumene. In this experiment, cumene was mineralized to the extent of 47.2, 42.1, and 25.7% at cumene test concentrations of 2.5, 12.5, and 25 mg/L, respectively. In the second experiment the test concentration was 2.5 mg/L. Triplicate active ecocores and a poisoned control were sacrificed at days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 10. After 10 d, the mean extent of mineralization was 46.9%. The first‐order mineralization rate constant at the test concentration of 2.5 mg/L was calculated to be 0.02 day−1 with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.83.

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