Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 22;10(5):209.
doi: 10.3390/toxics10050209.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Dielectric Mineral Oil with PCBs Content Coupled with Algae Treatment

Andrés F Suárez  1 , Carlos E Camargo  2 , Miguel A Esteso  3   4 , Carmen M Romero  2
Affiliations

Photocatalytic Degradation of Dielectric Mineral Oil with PCBs Content Coupled with Algae Treatment

Andrés F Suárez et al. Toxics. .

Abstract

Insulating oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is an environmentally important pollutant. This research focused on the establishment of the optimum conditions under which photocatalytic oxidation can be used together with biotreatment using the Nostoc sp. microorganism to degrade PCBs present in used dielectric oils. Among the optimal conditions studied were PCB concentration, initial pH, and titanium dioxide (TiO2) concentration for the photocatalytic step, and PCB concentration and photoperiod for the biotreatment step. The results indicate that the optimal conditions necessary for photocatalytic degradation were a pH of 6.10, 113 mg/L TiO2, and 765 mg/L PCBs, achieving close to 90% removal. For the biotreatment step, the results showed that PCBs progressively inhibited the microbiological growth, with the lowest cellular growth observed in the medium with the highest PCB concentration.

Keywords: Nostoc sp. microorganism; biotreatment; photocatalytic oxidation; pollutants; polychlorinated biphenyls.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
General molecular structure of PCBs.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic illustration for the photocatalytic treatment coupled to the biotreatment process of dielectric oils.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Surface response for the TOC removal of the photocatalytic experiments.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) TOC removal percentage vs. time for the optimal of the SRM; (b) van’t Hoff adjustment of PCB removal data.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Chloride ion concentration surface response.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Surface response for PCB removal.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bodin N., Tapie N., Le Ménach K., Chassot E., Elie P., Rochard E., Budzinski H. PCB contamination in fish community from the Gironde Estuary (France): Blast from the past. Chemosphere. 2014;98:66–72. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.10.003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mikolajczyk S., Warenik-Bany M., Maszewski S., Pajurek M. Dioxins and PCBs—Environment impact on freshwater fish contamination and risk to consumers. Environ. Pollut. 2020;263:114611. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114611. - DOI
    1. Provencher J.F., Avery-Gomm S., Liboiron M., Braune B.M., Macaulay J.B., Mallory M.L., Letcher R.J. Are ingested plastics a vector of PCB contamination in northern fulmars from coastal Newfoundland and Labrador? Environ. Res. 2018;167:184–190. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.07.025. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Audy O., Melymuk L., Venier M., Vojta S., Becanova J., Romanak K., Vykoukalova M., Prokes R., Kukucka P., Diamond M.L., et al. PCBs and organochlorine pesticides in indoor environments—A comparison of indoor contamination in Canada and Czech Republic. Chemosphere. 2018;206:622–631. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.05.016. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Šrédlová K., Cajthaml T. Recent advances in PCB removal from historically contaminated environmental matrices. Chemosphere. 2022;287:132096. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132096. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources