In the German-Israeli cooperation project BioChlor, in cooperation with the Ben Gurion University (Israel), the aerobic metabolic chloroethene degradation was investigated. The new process was detected and stimulated in groundwater samples from several contaminated sites.
Contaminated sites affect groundwater which is one of the most important drinking water resources worldwide. Efficient and cost-effective remediation processes for the removal of pollutants from groundwater and soil are therefore necessary. Chloroethenes frequently contaminate groundwater in Germany and Israel. These compounds are particularly persistent and harmful, making the remediation of groundwater a complex challenge. Recently the collaborative research of the German and Israeli teams has characterized aerobic metabolic degradation pathways that overcome the shortcomings of the hitherto existing anaerobic bioremediation concepts.
In the German-Israeli co-operation project, microbiome analysis was used to show that bacteria from the Rhodocyclaceae family are significantly involved in aerobic-metabolic TCE degradation. A PCR detection method was developed on this basis. Applications on laboratory and field samples were successful with regard to the development of a biomonitoring method. The demonstrated cometabolic degradation of TCE with cDCE is of outstanding importance for remediation practice, as several chloroethenes are usually present at CHC-contaminated sites. The use of cometabolism can be a promising solution, but co-contaminants and possible effects of pollutant mixtures on the degradation rates of the individual substances must be taken into account. In addition, bioaugmentation for aerobic chloroethene degraders has been successfully tested as a possible stimulation of aerobic processes in different inoculation strategies. Therefore, aerobic-metabolic TCE degradation can take place and be stimulated in a broad hydrogeological spectrum and should be considered as an alternative remediation method for groundwater contamination.
Publications:
Gaza S., Schmidt K.R., Weigold P., Heidinger M., Tiehm A.: Aerobic metabolic trichloroethene biodegradation under field-relevant conditions. Water Research 151: 343-348 (2019) DOI 10.1016/j.watres.2018.12.022
Gaza S.: Aerob-produktiver Abbau von Chlorethenen: Nachweis eines neuen Abbauweges für Trichlorethen. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Technologiezentrum Wasser, ISSN 1434-5765, TZW-Band 66 (2015)
Hertle, S; Behrendt, A; Willmann, A; Stelmaszyk, L; Ho, J; Müller, M; Tiehm, A: Vorkommen, Stimulation und Nachweis des aeroben metabolischen TCE-Abbaus. In: Symposium Strategien zur Boden- und Grundwassersanierung 2023, DECHEMA, Frankfurt, 27. – 28. November 2023, Tagungsband (2023)
Müller A., Schäfer W., Schumacher K., Hoffmann U., Nordmann T., Puster H., Tiehm A: Sequentiell anaerob-aerober LCKW-Abbau an der ehemaligen chemischen Reinigung Hemesath. In: 24. Symposium Strategien zur Sanierung von Boden & Grundwasser, DECHEMA, Frankfurt, 28./29. Nov. 2022, Tagungsband: 52–57 (2022)
Schmidt K., Gaza S., Voropaev A., Ertl S., Tiehm A.: Aerobic biodegradation of trichloroethene without auxiliary substrates. Water Research 59: 112-118 (2014) DOI 10.1016/j.watres.2014.04.008
Schmidt K.R., Tiehm A.: Natural Attenuation am Chlorethen-Standort Frankenthal: Bedeutung des sequentiell anaerob-aeroben Bio-Abbaus. Altlastenspektrum 05.11: 212-219 (2011)
Schmidt K.R., Augenstein T., Heidinger M., Ertl S., Tiehm A.: Aerobic biodegradation of cis-1,2-dichloroethene as sole carbon source: Stable carbon isotope fractionation and growth characteristics. Chemosphere 78: 527-532 (2010) DOI.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2009.11.033
Willmann, A; Tiehm, A.: Aerobic co-metabolic cis-Dichloroethene degradation with Trichloroethene as primary substrate and effects of concentration ratios. Chemosphere 350, 141000 (2024) DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.141000.
Willmann, A.; Trautmann, A.-L.; Kushmaro, A.; Tiehm, A.: Intrinsic and bioaugmented aerobic trichloroethene degradation at seven sites. Heliyon 9, 2: e13485 (2023) DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13485
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