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Biodegradation of a commercial mixture of the herbicides atrazine and S-metolachlor in a multi-channel packed biofilm reactor

  • 4th International Symposium on Environmental Biotechnology and Engineering-2014
  • Published:
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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 April 2016

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Abstract

Atrazine and S-metolachlor are two of the most widely used herbicides for agricultural purposes; consequently, residues of both compounds and their metabolites had been detected in ground and superficial waters. Unlike atrazine, the complete degradation of metolachlor has not been achieved. Hence, the purpose of this research is to study the biodegradation of a commercial mixture of atrazine and S-metolachlor in a prototype of a multi-channel packed-bed-biofilm reactor (MC-PBR) designed with the aim of solving the problems of pressure drop and oxygen transfer, typically found on this type of bioreactors.

Because the removal efficiency of the herbicides was increased when Candida tropicalis was added to the original microbial community isolated, the reactor was inoculated with this enriched community. The operational conditions tested in batch and continuous mode did not affect the removal efficiency of atrazine; however, this was not the case for S-metolachlor. The removal rates and efficiencies showed a notable variation along the MC-PBR operation.

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Change history

  • 01 April 2016

    An erratum to this article has been published.

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Acknowledgments

Cabrera-Orozco A. was the holder of a research grant from CONACyT. Galíndez-Nájera S.P. was the holder of a research grant from CONACyT and the Ministry of Public Education (SEP). Ruiz-Ordaz N, Galíndez-Mayer J, and Martínez-Jerónimo F.F. are holders of grants from COFAA-IPN, SIP-IPN, and SNI-Conacyt.

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  1. Laboratorio de Bioingeniería, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Carpio y Plan de Ayala, Col. Santo Tomás, CP 11340, ENCB-IPN, México, D.F, Mexico

    Alberto Cabrera-Orozco, Nora Ruiz-Ordaz, Juvencio Galíndez-Mayer & Francisco Fernando Martínez-Jerónimo

  2. School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Sciences, The University of Manchester, UK. Oxford Rd, Manchester, M60 1QD, UK

    Silvia Patricia Galíndez-Nájera

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  1. Alberto Cabrera-Orozco
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  2. Silvia Patricia Galíndez-Nájera
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  3. Nora Ruiz-Ordaz
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  4. Juvencio Galíndez-Mayer
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  5. Francisco Fernando Martínez-Jerónimo
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Correspondence to Nora Ruiz-Ordaz or Juvencio Galíndez-Mayer.

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Responsible editor: Gerald Thouand

An erratum to this article is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6496-5.

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Cabrera-Orozco, A., Galíndez-Nájera, S.P., Ruiz-Ordaz, N. et al. Biodegradation of a commercial mixture of the herbicides atrazine and S-metolachlor in a multi-channel packed biofilm reactor. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 25656–25665 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6204-5

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