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H2 consumption during the microbial reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated phenols and tetrachloroethene

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Abstract

Competition for molecular hydrogen exists amonghydrogen-utilizing microorganismsin anoxic environments, and evidence suggeststhat lower hydrogen concentrations areobserved with more energetically favorableelectron-accepting processes. The transferof electrons to organochlorines via reductivedehalogenation reactions plays an importantrole in hydrogen dynamics in impacted systems. Westudied the flux of aqueous hydrogenconcentrations in methanogenic sediment microcosmsprior to and during reductivedehalogenation of a variety of substituted chlorophenols(CP) and tetrachloroethene(perchloroethylene, PCE). Mean hydrogen concentrationsduring reductive dehalogenationof 2,4-CP, 2,3,4-CP, and PCP were 3.6 nM, 4.1 nM,and 0.34 nM, respectively. Sedimentmicrocosms that were not dosed with chlorophenolsyet were actively methanogenicmaintained a significantly higher mean hydrogenconcentration of 9.8 nM. Duringactive PCE dehalogenation, sediment microcosmsmaintained a mean hydrogenconcentration of 0.82 nM. These data indicate thatduring limiting hydrogen production,the threshold ecosystem hydrogen concentration iscontrolled by microbial populationsthat couple hydrogen oxidation to thermodynamicallyfavorable electron acceptingreactions, including reductive dehalogenationof chloroaromatic compounds. Wealso present revised estimates for the Gibbsfree energy available from the reductivedehalogenation of a variety of substitutedchlorophenols based on recently publishedvalues of vapor pressure, solubility, and pKafor these compounds.

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  1. Ecosystems Research Division, National Exposure Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, 960 College Station Rd., Athens, GA, 30605, USA

    Christopher S. Mazur, W. Jack Jones & Caroline Tebes-Stevens

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  1. Christopher S. Mazur
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  2. W. Jack Jones
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  3. Caroline Tebes-Stevens
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Mazur, C.S., Jones, W.J. & Tebes-Stevens, C. H2 consumption during the microbial reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated phenols and tetrachloroethene. Biodegradation 14, 285–295 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024765706617

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