Successful aerobic bioremediation of groundwater contaminated with higher chlorinated phenols by indigenous degrader bacteria
Mikkonen, A., Yläranta, K., Tiirola, M., Ambrosio Leal Dutra, L., Salmi, P., Romantschuk, M., Copley, S., Ikäheimo, J., & Sinkkonen, A. (2018). Successful aerobic bioremediation of groundwater contaminated with higher chlorinated phenols by indigenous degrader bacteria. Water Research, 138, 118-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.03.033
Published in
Water ResearchAuthors
Date
2018Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. This is a final draft version of an article whose final and definitive form has been published by Elsevier. Published in this repository with the kind permission of the publisher.
The xenobiotic priority pollutant pentachlorophenol has been used as a timber preservative in a polychlorophenol bulk synthesis product containing also tetrachlorophenol and trichlorophenol. Highly soluble chlorophenol salts have leaked into groundwater, causing severe contamination of large aquifers. Natural attenuation of higher-chlorinated phenols (HCPs: pentachlorophenol + tetrachlorophenol) at historically polluted sites has been inefficient, but a 4-year full scale in situ biostimulation of a chlorophenol-contaminated aquifer by circulation and re-infiltration of aerated groundwater was remarkably successful: pentachlorophenol decreased from 400 μg L−1 to <1 μg L−1 and tetrachlorophenols from 4000 μg L−1 to <10 μg L−1. The pcpB gene, the gene encoding pentachlorophenol hydroxylase - the first and rate-limiting enzyme in the only fully characterised aerobic HCP degradation pathway - was present in up to 10% of the indigenous bacteria already 4 months after the start of aeration. The novel quantitative PCR assay detected the pcpB gene in situ also in the chlorophenol plume of another historically polluted aquifer with no remediation history. Hotspot groundwater HCPs from this site were degraded efficiently during a 3-week microcosm incubation with one-time aeration but no other additives: from 5400 μg L−1 to 1200 μg L−1 and to 200 μg L−1 in lightly and fully aerated microcosms, respectively, coupled with up to 2400% enrichment of the pcpB gene. Accumulation of lower-chlorinated metabolites was observed in neither in situ remediation nor microcosms, supporting the assumption that HCP removal was due to the aerobic degradation pathway where the first step limits the mineralisation rate. Our results demonstrate that bacteria capable of aerobic mineralisation of xenobiotic pentachlorophenol and tetrachlorophenol can be present at long-term polluted groundwater sites, making bioremediation by simple aeration a viable and economically attractive alternative.
...
Publisher
IWA PublishingISSN Search the Publication Forum
0043-1354Keywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/27948709
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
Related funder(s)
European CommissionFunding program(s)
FP7 (EU's 7th Framework Programme)
The content of the publication reflects only the author’s view. The funder is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Additional information about funding
This work was supported by the Academy of Finland [grant numbers 139847, 260797]; the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme [FP/2007-450 2013, grant number 615146]; and Koskinen Oy (Kärkölä remediation and groundwater analyses, including consultancy by Jukka Ikäheimo). The other authors declare no conflict of interest. Funding sources had no involvement in the interpretation of data, writing of the report or the decision to submit the article for publication. ...Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Biofiltration of airborne VOCs with green wall systems : microbial and chemical dynamics
Mikkonen, Anu; Li, Tao; Vesala, Mari; Saarenheimo, Jatta; Ahonen, Viivi; Kärenlampi, Sirpa; Blande, James D.; Tiirola, Marja; Tervahauta, Arja (Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc., 2018)Botanical air filtration is a promising technology for reducing indoor air contaminants, but the underlying mechanisms need better understanding. Here, we made a set of chamber fumigation experiments of up to 16 weeks of ... -
Screening of microalgae and LED grow light spectra for effective removal of dissolved nutrients from cold-water recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) wastewater
Stevčić, Čedomir; Pulkkinen, Katja; Pirhonen, Juhani (Elsevier BV, 2019)Popularity of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) is increasing. Because of the high water recirculation rate, dissolved nutrients originating from fish feed are concentrated enough in RAS wastewater (WW) to enable ... -
Efficiency of Daphnia magna in removal of green microalgae cultivated in Nordic recirculating aquaculture system wastewater
Stevčić, Čedomir; Pulkkinen, Katja; Pirhonen, Juhani (Elsevier, 2020)The increase of global aquaculture production has boosted the development of recirculating aquaculture systems not only because they reduce water use but also provide opportunities for waste management and the use of ... -
Comparison of three unionid mussel species in removing green microalgae grown in recirculating aquaculture system effluent
Julkunen, Ville; Stevčić, Čedomir; Pirhonen, Juhani; Pulkkinen, Katja (Springer Nature, 2024)Global increase in aquaculture production has created a need to reduce its environmental impacts. Nutrients could be recycled especially at land-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) by cultivating green microalgae ... -
Abundant and diverse arsenic‐metabolizing microorganisms in peatlands treating arsenic‐contaminated mining wastewaters
Kujala, Katharina; Besold, Johannes; Mikkonen, Anu; Tiirola, Marja; Planer-Friedrich, Britta (Wiley-Blackwell, 2020)Mining operations produce large quantities of wastewater. At a mine site in Northern Finland, two natural peatlands are used for the treatment of mining‐influenced waters with high concentrations of sulfate and potentially ...