Enhancement of mixture pollutant biodegradation efficiency using a bacterial consortium under static magnetic field

Abstract

One of the main challenges of bioremediation is to define efficient protocols with low environmental impact and high removal rates, such as static magnetic field (SMF). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of SMF exposure on the biodegradation rate of a mixture of pollutants using three bacterial strains which were isolated and identified from the Bizerte lagoon: Pseudomonas stutzeri LBR (KC157911), Cupriavidus metallidurans LBJ (KU659610) and Rhodococcus equi LBB (KU743870). To recognize the improvement role of SMF, the culture was submitted to a pre-treatment with SMF with an induction equal to 200 mT for 5 hours, after that the degradation experiment was followed with individual strains and with a consortium. Results showed an increase by 20% in the growth of the exposed bacterial population compared to controls, and 98% of biodegradation of DDT and 90% for BaP after 30 days of follow-up. This encouraging data opens new perspectives for a bioremediation bioprocess using SMF.