Aerobic cometabolic biodegradation of 1,4-dioxane and its associated Co-contaminants

Cometabolism describes the biodegradation of a contaminant by microorganisms grown on compounds other than the contaminant itself. Aerobic cometabolic degradation of 1,4dioxane (14D) offers several advantages over metabolismbased biodegradation processes in which microorganisms use this compound as a sole source of carbon and energy for growth. These include (a) the use of widely distributed rather than highly specialized microorganisms (b) the ability to treat low, environmentally relevant concentrations (<100 mu g/L) of 14D, and (c), the ability to concurrently degrade chlorinated cocontaminants that are frequently encountered with 14D. This review summarizes recent studies highlighting these key features as well as field studies and emerging novel cometabolism-based approaches aimed at treating both 14D and its associated chlorinated co-contaminants.

Automated summary

Cometabolism refers to the degradation of a contaminant by microorganisms grown on compounds other than the contaminant itself. Aerobic cometabolic degradation of 1,4-dioxane (14D) offers advantages such as the use of widely distributed microorganisms, the ability to treat low concentrations of 14D, and the concurrent degradation of chlorinated co-contaminants. This review summarizes recent studies on these features and novel cometabolism-based approaches for treating 14D and its associated co-contaminants.