Strategies to evaluate biodegradability: application to chlorinated herbicides

Sanchis, S.; Polo, A. M.; Tobajas, M.; Rodriguez, J. J.; Mohedano, A. F.

Strategies to evaluate biodegradability: application to chlorinated herbicides

2014

Sanchis, S. | Polo, A. M. | Tobajas, M. | Rodriguez, J. J. | Mohedano, A. F.

The biodegradability of nitrochlorinated (diuron and atrazine) and chlorophenoxy herbicides (2,4-D and MCPA) has been studied through several bioassays using different testing times and biomass/substrate ratios. A fast biodegradability test using unacclimated activated sludge yielded no biodegradation of the herbicides in 24 h. The inherent biodegradability test gave degradation percentages of around 20–30 % for the nitrochlorinated herbicides and almost complete removal of the chlorophenoxy compounds. Long-term biodegradability assays were performed using sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and sequencing batch membrane bioreactor (SB-MBR). Fixed concentrations of each herbicide below the corresponding EC₅₀value for activated sludge were used (30 mg L⁻¹for diuron and atrazine and 50 mg L⁻¹for 2,4-D and MCPA). No signs of herbicide degradation appeared before 35 days in the case of diuron and atrazine and 21 days for 2,4-D, whereas MCPA was partially degraded since the early stages. Around 25–36 % degradation of the nitrochlorinated herbicides and 53–77 % of the chlorophenoxy ones was achieved after 180 and 135 days, respectively, in SBR, whereas complete disappearance of 2,4-D was reached after 80 days in SB-MBR.

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