Summary
Microbiological decontamination of technical chlorophenol-containing soil by composting was studied. In two 50 m3 windrows the concentration of chlorophenols went down from 212 mg kg-1 to 30 mg kg-1 in 4 summer months and after the second summer of composting it was only 15 mg kg-1. All chlorophenol congeners present in the technical chlorophenol were degraded, but the main dimeric impurities, polychlorinated phenoxyphenols were recalcitrant. The contaminated soil was found to contain chlorophenol-degrading microbes, 5x106 cfu g-1 of dry windrow soil. Laboratory experiments with samples from the windrow compost showed that chlorophenols were truly degraded and that chlorophenol loss by evaporation was less than 1.5% under the circumstances studied. Laboratory experiments also showed that degradation of chlorophenols (120 mg kg-1) was accelerated when sterilized contaminated soil was inoculated with Rhodococcus chlorophenolicus (mineralizer of several chlorophenols) or naturally occurring microbes of the field composts. Biomethylation of chlorophenols in the composts was insignificant compared to biodegradation.
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Valo, R., Salkinoja-Salonen, M. Bioreclamation of chlorophenol-contaminated soil by composting. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 25, 68–75 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00252515
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00252515