Construction of a bioraactor for the degradation of the pesticide, aldicarb

Abstract

Water soluble derivatives of cellulose are widely used in various biomedical and biotechnological applications. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (25 ml, 1-4% w/v) was insolubilized in the form of microspheres using aluminum chloride (150 ml, 0.2-2.0 M) as the crosslinking agent. Microspheres were activated by epichlorohydrin. Methylophilus, a Gram negative bacteria capable of degrading aldicarb, a carbamate pesticide, was immobilized Methylophilus was determined by feeding in aqueous aldicarb solutions (10-400 ppm) at a rate of 20 ml/h. The degradative capability was found to be quite stable for ca. 48 h, and ca. 10% of the aldicarb was degradative capability was found to be quite stable for ca. 48 h, and ca. 10% of the aldicarb was found to be metabolized in the packed bed approach with a single pass application. © 1997 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.