Bioavailability of pentachlorophenol to acclimatised bacteria under batch and flow-through conditions

Biodegradation of organic contaminants in multi-phase systems, such as soils and aquifers, is often limited by the extent and the rate of contaminant sorption onto the solid matrix. However, information about biodegradation in complex matrices is largely limited to studies of closed systems under ba...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied microbiology and biotechnology 2004, Vol.63 (4), p.460-465
Main Authors: DUDAL, Y, JACOBSON, A. R, SAMSON, R, DESCHENES, L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adsorption
Bacteria - growth & development
Bacteria - metabolism
Bioavailability
Biodegradation
Biodegradation of pollutants
Biodegradation, Environmental
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Availability
Biotechnology
Environment and pollution
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects
Kinetics
Life Sciences
Microbiology and Parasitology
Pentachlorophenol - metabolism
Resins, Synthetic - chemistry
Sphingomonas - growth & development
Sphingomonas - metabolism
Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism
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Summary:Biodegradation of organic contaminants in multi-phase systems, such as soils and aquifers, is often limited by the extent and the rate of contaminant sorption onto the solid matrix. However, information about biodegradation in complex matrices is largely limited to studies of closed systems under batch conditions in which potential bioavailability is characterised by the aqueous-phase concentration of a contaminant. There is little knowledge regarding the influence of flow-through conditions on the availability of contaminants to microbes (contaminant bioavailability). Thus, the aim of this study was to assess and compare contaminant bioavailability, in the presence of a sorptive medium, under both batch and flow-through conditions. Accordingly, experiments were designed in which pentachlorophenol (PCP) was introduced into a mixture of inoculated silica sand and a PCP-retaining resin, under either batch or flow-through (columns) conditions. The results indicated that an increase in the amount of resin (0.1-0.2 g) clearly lowered PCP availability to microbes after 170 h under batch conditions (30 and 45% respectively); whereas, the initial decrease in bioavailability observed under flow-through conditions (45 and 70% respectively) was reversed and no longer observable after 170 h. This increase in PCP availability was linked to an improvement in the contaminant biodegradation capacity from 0.03 to 0.13 mg x l(-1) x h(-1) over 200 h.
ISSN:0175-7598
1432-0614
DOI:10.1007/s00253-003-1259-x