SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: SELF-BIOREMEDIATION OF INDUSTRIAL CORK WASTEWATERS

PAREDES PALIZ; K; IBAÑEZ S; AGOSTINI E; DOUKKALI B; PAJUELO DOMINGUEZ E

Mar del Plata

Congreso; VIII Encuentro Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Biotecnología REDBIO Argentina 2013; 2013

REDBIO

Cork-boiling wastewaters are rich in phenolic compounds and have traditionally been remediated by chemical techniques. An alternative treatment, based on microbial bioremediation, is being developed. The objective of this work was to design and optimize an effective self-bioremediation system to treat polluted cork wastewater. Phenols tolerant cultivable bacteria were isolated from this effluent. The strains, identified by 16S rDNA, include Acinetobacter sp., Staphyloccocus sp., two Microbacterium sp. and Bacilllus sp., that were able to tolerate up to 15mM of phenol, up to 1mM and less than 0.1mM of 4-chlorophenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol, respectively, using the pollutant as the sole carbon source. In degradation assays using liquid cultures, Acinetobacter sp. and the consortium formed by the five selected strains were able to remove more than 60% of initial phenols concentration from a cork wastewater in 10 days. The solution obtained after the removal process with Acinetobacter sp. was tested for its toxicity applying a toxicity test with Medicago sativa seeds. Results suggested that the treated solution was less toxic than the parent solution. Thus, self-bioremediation seems to be a promising eco-friendly technology that allows the treatment of cork boiling wastewater with low costs and the absence of collateral impacts.