United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Environmental
Research Laboratory
Athens, GA 30605-2720
Research and Development
EPA Project Summary
EPA/600/SR-93/131 September 1993
Anaerobic Dehalogenation and
Its Environmental Implications
John E. Rogers and Daniel A. Abramowicz
In an international conference, rni-
crobiologists from five countries pre-
sented results of research into the
anaerobic dehalogenation of com-
pounds of environmental interest be-
ing performed at selected universities,
government agencies, and private com-
panies. The conference, held from Au-
gust 30 to September 4, 1992, in Ath-
ens, GA, was sponsored by the Ameri-
can Society for Microbiology. This
document provides abstracts of the 33
papers presented at the conference in
sessions addressing the environmen-
tal fate of chlorinated organic chemi-
cals; the anaerobic dechloiination of
chlorinated phenols; the dechlorination
of polychlorinated biphenyls; the
dehalogenation of aliphatic com-
pounds; the abiotic dechlorination of
porphryns, corrins, and non-tetrapyr-
roles; the kinetics of dehalogenatioris;
the microbial physiology of dechlori-
nating systems; and the hydrolytic
dehalogenation of compounds. Re-
search results were provided for a vari-
ety of compounds, including polychlo-
rinated biphenyls, pentachloro-
dibenzodioxin, polychlorinated phenols,
2,4-dichlorophenol, aroclors, 1,2-
dichloroethane, tetrachloroethene, me-
thyl chloride, perchloroethylene, 2,4,5-
trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and
pentachlorodibenzofuran.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Environmental Research
Laboratory, Athens, GA, to announce
key findings of the research project
that is fully documented in a separate
report of the same title (see Project
Report ordering information at back).
Conference Overview
Chlorinated chemicals continue to make
an . impact on our daily lives. Many of
these impacts are positive. For example,
chlorinated chemicals currently are used
as solvents, oils, and pesticides. Undesir-
able consequences, however, also can be
associated with these materials. Many of
these chemicals as well as their degrada-
tion products are considered hazardous
and can pose problems to humans and
other life forms when the compounds en-
ter the environment. The extent of the
impact is dependent on the exposure route
and the length of exposure.
Considerable scientific effort continues
to be directed toward understanding the
chemical and biological processes that af-
fect the fate of chemicals in the environ-
ment. The close relationship between the
susceptibility of chlorinated chemicals to
microbial degradation and their persistence
in the environment has led to numerous
investigations. These research efforts ini-
tially focused on aerobic degradation with
anaerobic degradation receiving attention
mostly in the last decade. Revealed sus-
ceptibility to microbial degradation also led
to investigations leading to the use of bio-
remediation in the cleanup of sites con-
taminated with chlorinated chemicals.
In an effort to integrate the findings of
some of the numerous investigators in
laboratories across the United States and
other countries who are addressing the
many aspects of the environmental fate of
chlorinated chemicals and the potental use
of bioremediation in contaminated site
cleanup, the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency and other organizations sup-
ported a conference in the summer of
Printed on Recycled Paper
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1992 that was sponsored by the Ameri-
can Society for Microbiology. The sup-
porting organizations—EPA, the Depart-
ment of Energy, General Electric, the Na-
tional Science Foundation, and the Na-
tional Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences—join w'rtn tne American Society
for Microbiology in the belief that a com-
mon sharing of results will lead to better
remedial options, provide a database for
developing regulatory options, and focus
on critical basic research needs.
Compiled Abstracts
1. Fate of Chlorinated Aromatic Com-
pounds in a Sediment Area of the Rhine
River (J.E.M. Buerskens, J. deWolf, M.
Swart, and C.G.C. Dekker), 2. Reductive
Dechlorination of PCBs and PCDDs by
Consort/a Isolated from Dutch Sediments
(J.R. Parsons, L.C.M. Commandeur, M.
Toussaint, and J.E.M. Buerskens), 3.
Anaerobic Microbial PCB Dechlorination
in the Environment (J.F. Brown), 4.
Anaerobic Dehalogenation of Pesticides
In Subsurface Environments (J.M. Suflita),
5. Anaerobic Degradation of Chlorinated
Aromatic Hydrocarbons Using Acclimated
Cultures (J.E. Rogers, W.J. Jones, D.D.
Hale, and D. Wubah).
6. Sequential Degradation of 2,4-
Dlchlorophenol and Analogous Com-
pounds (J. Wiegel), 7. Different Reducing
Conditions and Chlorophenol Metabolism
(L.Y. Young, M.M. Haggblom, J. Kazumi,
and M.D. Rivera, 8. Cross-reactivity of
PCP-degrading Organisms (J. Struijs), 9.
Simulation of Reductive Dechlorination of
Arochlor 1260 Contaminant in Anaerobic
Slurries of Woods Pond Sediment (D.L.
Bedard, H.M. Van Dort, S.C. Bunnell, J.M.
Principe, K.A. DeWeerd, R.J. May, and
L.A. Smullen), 10. Reductive Dechlorina-
tion in Different Sediments (M.M.
Haggblom, A.C. Alder, S.R. Oppenheimer,
and L.Y. Young.
11. Factors Affecting in situ PCB
Dechlorination and the Expected Toxicity
Reduction (J.F. Quensen), 12. Hudson
RiverLaboratory and Environmental
Changes (D.A. Abramowicz), 13. PCB
Dechlorination: Large Scale Efforts and
Sequential Anaerobic-Aerobic Treatment
(P.A. Anid, L Nies, B.P. Ravest-Webster,
and T.M. Vogel), 14. Anaerobic Biotrans-
formation of PCBs and Determining Fac-
tors (G-Y. Rhee and R.C.,Sokol), 15. Ef-
fect of Temperature on the Dechlorination
of PCBs in Woods Pond Sediment (J.
Wiegel).
16. Reductive Dechlorination of 1,2-
Dichloroethane and Tetrachloroethene
Catalyzed by Anaerobic Bacteria (C.
Hollinger), 17. Complete Anaerobic
Dechlorination of Tetrachloroethane in a
Bioreactor (W.P. de Bruin, G. Schraa, and
A.R.J. Zehnder), 18. A CH3CL Utilizing
Homoacetogen (G. Diekert), 19. Factors
Effecting PCE Dechlorination in the Sub-
surface (G.W. Sewell, S.A. Gibson, and
H.H. Russell), 20. Simulation of Anaerobic
2,4,5-T Degradation (S.A. Gibson and J.M.
Suflita).
21. Dehalogenation of Highly Chlori-
nated PCDDs and PCDFs: Retention of
the 2,3,7,8-Sequence (P. Adriaens and D.
Grbic-Galic), 22. Reductive Dehalo-
genation by Bacteria: A Competition with
Oxygen and Oxidation (C.E. Castro), 23.
The Use of Porphyrins and Corrins in
Detoxification (T.S. Marks and A. Maule),
24. Enzymatic and Coenzymatic Reduc-
tive Dehalogenation: Mechanisms and
Applications (L. Wackett), 25. Electro-
catalytic Dehalogenations (J.F. Rusling).
26. Natural Chemical Attenuation of
Halogenated Hydrocarbon Compounds Via
Dehalogenation Reactions (M. Reinhard),
27. Synthetic Nickel Complexes as
Dehalogenation Catalysts (M. Stiles), 28.
Factors Affecting Dichlorophenol Reduc-
tion Kinetics (D.D. Hale), 29. Reductive
Transformation of Halogenated Aromatic
Hydrocarbons in Anaerobic Water-Sedi-
ment Systems: Kinetics, Mechanisms,
Products and QSARs (W.G.J.M.
Peijnenburg, N.L. Bilthoven, and N.L.
Wolfe), 30. Dechlorination and ATP For-
mation in Desulfomonile tiedje (J. Dolfing).
31. Development and Characterization
of an Anaerobic Bacterial Co-culture which
Dechlorinates 3-Chlorobenzoate (B.
Sharak Genthner), 32. From Molecular Bi-
ology to Treatment: Activities and Adapta-
tions of Dehalogenases (D.B. Janssen,
M. Pentenga, R. Bos, and F. Pries), and
33. Dechlorination Enzymology: Halido-
hydrolases from Pseudomonas spec.
Strain CBS3 (S. Fetzer, B. Schneider, F.
Loftier, R. Muller, and F. Lingens).
The organizing committee for the con-
ference was composed of Dr. John
Rogers, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Athens GA; Dr. Daniel
Abramowicz, General Electric Research
and Development Center, Schenectady
NY; Dr. Hugh Russell, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Ada OK; Dr. Joseph
Suflita, University of Oklahoma, Norman
OK; Dr. Lily Young, Rutgers University,
New Brunswick NJ; and Dr. Alexander
Zehnder, Agricultural University,
Wageningen, The Netherlands.
•A-U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1993 - 750-071/80077
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John E. Rogers (also the EPA Project Officer, see below) is with the Environmental
Research Laboratory, Athens, GA 30605-2720; Daniel A. Abramowicz is with
the General Electric Corporate Research and Development Center,
Schenectady, NY 12301.
The complete report, entitled "Anaerobic Dehalogenation and Its Environmental
Implications: Abstracts of 1992 American Society for Microbiology Conference,"
(OrderNo. PB93-217799AS; Cost: $19.50; subject to change) will be available
only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Environmental Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Athens, GA 30605-2720
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
EPA/600/SR-93/131
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EPA
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