title: Biodegradation of pentachlorophenol in soil: the response to physical, chemical, and biological treatments.
abstract: The effects of physical, chemical, and biological treatments on biodegradation of pentachlorophenol (PCP) were studied in a silt-loam soil contaminated with 175 mg PCP/kg and uniformly 14C-labelled PCP. Biodegradation of 14C-labelled PCP and technical-grade PCP were monitored over 210 days incubation. Mineralization of labelled PCP was significantly (p=0.05) influenced by soil treatments. Negligible biodegradation occurred in either the sterile control soil or the uninoculated control soil, with less than 1% of added 14C recovered as 14 CO2. Inoculation of unamended soil with a strain of Flavobacterium (ATCC 39723) known to degrade PCP increased biodegradation of PCP; approximately 60% of the [14C]PCP was recovered as 14CO2. Increased soil water content (60% versus 30% w/w) enhanced biodegradation (67% recovery of 14C as CO2), while increased chloride ion concentration and anoxic conditions were inhibitory (20 and 1% recoveries, respectively). Residual soil PCP concentrations were also influenced by various treatments. In the sterile control soil and noninoculated control, after 210 days incubation, concentrations of PCP were 143 and 1223 mg/kg, respectively, while the PCP concentration in the inoculated soil was 21 mg/kg. When soil organic matter was increased by adding finely ground red clover leaf and stem material, the residual PCP concentration was reduced to 6 mg/kg after 210 days. Increased soil water content resulted in a residual PCP concentration of 5 mg/kg. High-pressure liquid chromatography of soil extracts revealed no accumulation of partial PCP degradation products. The results indicated that biodegradation of PCP in soil was significantly influenced by various soil amendments.
authors.affiliation: Dearborn Environmental Consulting Group, Ltd., Mississauga, Ont., Canada L5A 3T5.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Seech
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Trevors
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Bulman
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D005417:Flavobacterium / Q000378:metabolism; D010416:Pentachlorophenol / Q000378:metabolism*; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D010416:Pentachlorophenol