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Significant pentachlorophenol (PCP) degradation occurred within two weeks when either FX66 (a non-Phanerochaete WRF) or Phanerochaete chrysosporium were added to soil from wood treatment sites in Montana (550 ppm PCP) and in Minnesota (600 ppm PCP). The best results occurred in soil incubations with added FX66 (84% PCP degradation in Minnesota soil and 72% in Montana soil). The Montana soil (79% sand, 13% silt, 9% clay) was also contaminated with arsenic (45 ppm) and copper (165 ppm). The Minnesota soil (70% sand, 20% silt, 10% clay) allowed better fungal growth. Pentachloroanisole (PCA) appearance inversely correlated with PCP disappearance in both soils incubated with P. chrysosporium. However, neither PCA, tetra nor trichlorophenols were detected by GC analysis (EPA method 8040) in samples incubated with FX66 or in indigenous controls. Extensive PCP degradation occurred with indigenous incubations (65%) in the Minnesota soil but was negligible in the Montana soil. Incubations were done in triplicate vials at 25ºC with 10 grams of soil. Additions of the solid culture/sawdust mixtures increased the soil volume by 33%, which was taken into account when PCP degradation was evaluated. Larger scale incubations (1 cubic foot of soil) with FX66 showed a 56% decrease in PCP in the Montana soil within 45 days. These results indicate that fungal remediation of PCP-contaminated soils should be evaluated in field trials.
white-rot fungi, PCP degradation, soil
This paper is from the Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Hazardous Waste Research 1995, published in hard copy and on the Web by the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Hazardous Substance Research Center.