Transformation of carbon tetrachloride and chloroform by trichloroethene respiring anaerobic mixed cultures and supernatant

• Anaerobic dechlorinating cultures and supernatant transform inhibitory compounds.
• Transformation of carbon tetrachloride (CT) is predominantly abiotic.
• Transformation of chloroform to dichloromethane was biotic.
• Simultaneous transformation of TCE and CT was observed in the anaerobic batch reactors.

Carbon tetrachloride (CT) and chloroform (CF) were transformed in batch reactor experiments conducted with anaerobic dechlorinating cultures and supernatant (ADC + S) harvested from continuous flow reactors. The Evanite (EV) and Victoria/Stanford (VS) cultures, capable of respiring trichloroethene (TCE), 1,2-cis-dichloroethene (cDCE), and vinyl chloride (VC) to ethene (ETH), were grown in continuous flow reactors receiving an influent feed of saturated TCE (10 mM; 60 mEq) and formate (45 mM; 90 mEq) but no CT or CF. Cells and supernatant were harvested from the chemostats and inoculated into batch reactors at the onset of each experiment. CT transformation was complete following first order kinetics with CF, DCM and CS2 as the measurable transformation products, representing 20–40% of the original mass of CT, with CO2 likely the unknown transformation product. CF was transformed to DCM and likely CO2 at an order of magnitude rate lower than CT, while DCM was not further transformed. An analytical first order model including multiple key reactions effectively simulated CT transformation, product formation and transformation, and provided reasonable estimates of transformation rate coefficients. Biotic and abiotic treatments indicated that CT was mainly transformed via abiotic processes. However, the presence of live cells was associated with the transformation of CF to DCM. In biotic tests both TCE and CT were simultaneously transformed, with TCE transformed to ETH and approximately 15–53% less CF formed via CT transformation. A 14-day exposure to CF (CFmax = 1.4 μM) reduced all rates of chlorinated ethene respiration by a factor of 10 or greater.

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