Mineralisation of 1,2-dibromoethane and other brominated aliphatics under aerobic conditions

1,2-dibromoethane (DBE) is a common environmental contaminant; it is potentially carcinogenic and has been detected in soil and groundwater supplies. Most of the biodegradation studies to date have been performed under anaerobic conditions or in the context of soil remediation, where the pollutant concentration was in the ppb range. The aim of this work was to find a bacterial culture (axenic or mixed) capable of complete aerobic mineralisation of concentrations of DBE up to 1 g L−1 under well controlled laboratory conditions. A mixed culture capable of degrading DBE as a sole source of carbon has been enriched. In order to verify biodegradation. formation of biodegradation products as well as the disappearance of DBE were measured. The ability of this culture to degrade other chlorinated and brominated compounds has also been tested. Successful degradation of bromoethane, bromoethanol and bromochloroethane was achieved.