Aerobic biotransformation of decabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE-209) by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

• Certain amount of co-metabolic substrates promoted the biodegradation of PBDE-209.
• Degradation was stimulated at low level of Cd2+ while inhibited at higher content.
• Br− was produced during degradation of PBDE-209.
• The lower brominated products of PBDE-209 transformation were presented.
• The mechanism of PBDE-209 degradation by P. aeruginosa was put forward.

Aerobic biodegradation of decabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE-209) by Pseudomonas aeruginosa under the influence of co-metabolic substrates and heavy metal cadmium ion was studied, The results showed that certain amount of co-metabolic substrates, such as glucose, sucrose, lactose, starch, and beef extract, would promote the biodegradation of PBDE-209, among which glucose most favorably accelerated PBDE-209 degradation by about 36% within 5 d. The highest degradation efficiency was reached at the ratio of PBDE-209 and glucose 1:5 while excessive carbon source would actually hamper the degradation efficiency. Exploration of influences of cadmium ion on PBDE-209 biodegradation indicated that degradation efficiency was stimulated at low concentrations of Cd2+ (0.5–2 mg L−1) while inhibited at higher levels (5–10 mg L−1), inferring that the heavy metals of different concentrations possessed mixed reactions on PBDE-209 bioremoval. Bromine ion was produced during the biotransformation process and its concentration had a good negative correlation with the residues of PBDE-209. Two nonabromodiphenyl ethers (PBDE-208, PBDE-207), four octabromodiphenyl ethers (PBDE-203, PBDE-202, PBDE-197, PBDE-196) and one heptabromodiphenyl ethers (PBDE-183) were formed with the decomposition of PBDE-209, demonstrating that the main aerobic transformation mechanism of PBDE-209 was debromination.