Sequential anaerobic/aerobic biodegradation of chloroethenes—aspects of field application

Because of a range of different industrial activities, sites contaminated with chloroethenes are a world-wide problem. Chloroethenes can be biodegraded by reductive dechlorination under anaerobic conditions as well as by oxidation under aerobic conditions. The tendency of chloroethenes to undergo reductive dechlorination decreases with a decreasing number of chlorine substituents, whereas with less chlorine substituents chloroethenes more easily undergo oxidative degradation. There is currently a growing interest in aerobic metabolic degradation of chloroethenes, which demonstrates advantages compared to cometabolic degradation pathways. Sequential anaerobic/aerobic biodegradation can overcome the disadvantages of reductive dechlorination and leads to complete mineralization of the chlorinated pollutants. This approach shows promise for site remediation in natural settings and in engineered systems.

► Biodegradation of chloroethenes is a viable method for site remediation.
► Recent findings show aerobic metabolic degradation of cis-1,2-dichloroethene.
► Aerobic degradation can overcome the shortcomings of reductive dechlorination.
► Aerobic metabolic oxidation offers advantages over aerobic cometabolic oxidation.
► Sequential anaerobic/aerobic biodegradation is promising for field application.