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Anaerobic Dechlorination of Tetrachlorobisphenol A in River Sediment and Associated Changes in Bacterial Communities

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Abstract

Tetrachlorobisphenol A (TCBPA) is a widely used flame retardant and a potential endocrine disruptor. We estimated the role of the microbial community in degradation of TCBPA in river sediment from the vicinity of an E-waste processing facility. The effects of different anaerobic conditions on degradation efficiency of TCBPA were investigated, and differences in bacterial communities among these conditions were analyzed by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. The most effective dechlorination of TCBPA occurred under methanogenic conditions followed by electron donor-enhanced conditions and sulfate-reducing conditions with initial sulfate concentrations of 1, 10, and 20 mM. The extent of TCBPA removal under these conditions mentioned above was 65, 44, 43, 23, and 23%, respectively. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that five dominant genera in the phylum Chloroflexi and another five species of Bacteroidetes, Chlorobi, and Firmicutes in these five systems were largely involved in TCBPA dechlorination. The initial sample had a total relative abundance of autochtonous potential dechlorinating bacteria of 12%. After 160 days, these values increased to 29–43% under above conditions. Addition of TCBPA decreased bacterial diversity. Efficiency of TCBPA degradation depends on the abundance and metabolism of dechlorinating bacterial guilds. The effectiveness of dechlorinating microbes in degradation of TCBPA was reduced by high sulfate concentrations.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51178190), Special Funds for the Construction of Key Disciplines Funded Projects in Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2013CXZDA004), and the Research Fund of SIT of Guangzhou (Grant No. 2013J4100107). LetPub (www.letpub.com) provided linguistic assistance during manuscript preparation.

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  1. School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Higher Education Mega Center, Panyu District, Guangzhou, 510006, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Zhang, Shicheng Liu, Lingling Li, Yuan Ren, Chunhua Feng, Chaohai Wei & Yipeng Li

  2. The Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Yuan Ren, Chunhua Feng & Chaohai Wei

  3. The Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Eco-Remediation of Guangdong Regular Higher Education Institutions, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Yuan Ren, Chunhua Feng & Chaohai Wei

  4. School of Applied Chemistry and Biological Technology, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen, 518055, People’s Republic of China

    Zhili Huang

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  1. Jing Zhang
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Zhang, J., Liu, S., Li, L. et al. Anaerobic Dechlorination of Tetrachlorobisphenol A in River Sediment and Associated Changes in Bacterial Communities. Water Air Soil Pollut 228, 78 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-017-3254-3

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