Biodegradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Minoru SHIMURA, Toshio HAYAKAWA, Gouri MUKERJEE-DHAR, Kazuhide KIMBARA
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are widespread environmental pollutants
which are recalcitrant to biodegradation. Large quantities of PCBs have
been recovered and stored for detoxification. In Japan, a Safety standard
of 3 ppb is demanded by law as an acceptable cleanup of PCB in discharge
effluent. We have isolated some microorganisms which have PCB degrading
ability and are trying to develop a practical system which combines
physicochemical treatment with biological degradation for the complete
degradation of concentrated PCBs.