Reductive microbial dechlorination of indigenous polychlorinated biphenyls in soil using a sediment-free inoculum.

In laboratory experiments, unagitated soil slurry bioreactors inoculated with micro-organisms extracted from polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated (PCBs) sediments from the Hudson River were used to anaerobically dechlorinate PCBs. The onset of dechlorination activity was accelerated by the addition of certain organic acids (pyruvate and maleate) and single congeners (2,3,6-trichlorobiphenyl). Dechlorination was observed under several working conditions after 19 weeks of incubation with PCB-contaminated soil and nutrient solution. Best results showed a drop in average chlorine content from 4.3 to 3.6 chlorines per biphenyl due to a loss of m-chlorines. Soil used for these experiments was obtained from a PCB-contaminated (weathered Aroclor 1248) site at an electric power substation. Dechlorination was observed with no sediment particles or other matrix being added.