Abstract
The suspected carcinogenic solvent 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) is the most abundant chlorinated C2 groundwater pollutant on earth. However, an efficient reductive in situ detoxification technology for this compound is not known. Detoxification results of 1,2-DCA with the recently isolated anaerobic bacterium Desulfitobacterium dichloroeliminans strain DCA1 are presented. First, it was verified that strain DCA1 could compete for nutrients in the presence of fast-growing Enterococcus faecalis; the latter was observed in the enrichment culture from which strain DCA1 was isolated. Subsequently, lab-scale bioaugmentation of the strain to groundwater containing 40 mg 1,2-DCA/l indicated that the bacterium has strong metabolic activity under prevailing environmental conditions, converting the pollutant into ethene. During exponential growth, the maximum 1,2-DCA dechlorination rate exceeded 350 nmol chloride released per min per mg total bacterial protein. Growth and dechlorination within the community with autochthonous bacteria indicated a high competitive strength of strain DCA1. Interestingly this dechlorination process does not produce any toxic byproducts, such as vinyl chloride. Furthermore, complete groundwater detoxification happens within a short time-frame (days) and is robust in terms of bacterial competition, oxygen tolerance, high ionic strength, and pH range.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the Ghent University for a Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds (BOF) grant. The cooperation with NV Avecom (Beernem, Belgium) is also appreciated.
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De Wildeman, S., Linthout, G., Van Langenhove, H. et al. Complete lab-scale detoxification of groundwater containing 1,2-dichloroethane. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 63, 609–612 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-003-1363-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-003-1363-y