Abstract
Aerobic degradation experiments with the racemic mixtures of mecoprop and dichlorprop revealed that activated sludge collected from the aeration tank of a municipal waste water treatment plant degraded both enantiomers of mecoprop and dichlorprop within 7 days, albeit in an enantioselective manner; the (S) enantiomers were preferentially degraded. Mecoprop, dichlorprop, and 2,4-D were completely metabolized under aerobic conditions, as shown by the 86–98% elimination of dissolved organic carbon. Under anaerobic conditions, the concentration of 2,4-D decreased exponentially with a first-order reaction rate constant of 0.24 per day and without a lag-phase. After an incubation time of 17 days, 2,4-D was completely removed. 2,4-Dichlorophenol was the main metabolite of anaerobic 2,4-D degradation; only traces of 4-chlorophenol were detected. In contrast, the chiral phenoxypropionic acid herbicides mecoprop and dichlorprop persisted under anaerobic conditions during 49 days of incubation.
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Zipper, C., Bolliger, C., Fleischmann, T. et al. Fate of the herbicides mecoprop, dichlorprop, and 2,4-D in aerobic and anaerobic sewage sludge as determined by laboratory batch studies and enantiomer-specific analysis. Biodegradation 10, 271–278 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008396022622
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008396022622