Date: May 01, 2012 Source: Press Release (
click here to go to the source)
Bioremediation Consulting, Inc. will present recent research findings on dechlorination of PCBs at the Battelle Conference - "Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds", May 21-24, 2012 in Monterey, California. BCI's research PCB Biodegradation by a Dehalococcoides (Dhc) Culture Grown on Trichlorobenzenes can be found at Poster Location 17 on Level 1 in the Exhibit Hall from Wednesday, May 23rd at 7 am to Thursday, May 24th at 1:30 pm. The poster will be staffed on Wednesday, May 23rd from 11:00 am to 12:45 pm.
The research showed significant anaerobic biodegradation of PCB's using BCI's strain of sediment-free Dehalococcoides (Dhc) The PCB-degrading culture was tested on three commercial mixtures of PCB's (Aroclor 1260, 1254, and 1242). Within ten weeks of incubation a significant portion of the PCBs having five to eight chlorine atoms per biphenyl were dechlorinated to PCBs having two to five chlorine atoms per biphenyl.
The research was funded by a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant. As a result of this research, BCI is now able to offer the first commercially available sediment-free PCB-degrading culture for microcosm testing or bioaugmentation. Since low chlorinated PCBs are readily aerobically degradable, this breakthrough will support sediment remediation by sequential anaerobic-aerobic processes.
