Volume : 2, Issue : 8, August - 2013

Bioremediation of Endosulfan in Surface Soil Treatment Using Microbial Consortia

Arunkumar. S, Chandrasekaran. R

Abstract :

Endosulfan is an organochlorine pesticide used throughout the world for higher agricultural production. Long term effect on ecosystem may increase the concentration of toxicant in organism towards the top of the food chain increases. The purpose of this study to investigate the ability of activated cow dung slurry to degrade endosulfan. In the present study, surface soil treatment unit (SSTU) has been designed wherein, technical grade pesticide endosulfan was amended separately in alluvial soil at three different concentrations viz. 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg and bioremediation is carried out using activated cow–dung biomass. COD and BOD as indicators of bioremediation were also monitored during the course of experiment. Among this study maximum percentage of endosulfan degradation recorded at 5th treatment samples compared than other sampling days. The percentage of endosulfan degradation straightly increases if the time increases. The presence of nutrients as well as microorganisms in cow–dung and soil has been found to have great influence on the bioremediation of endosulfan. These results indicated that cow dung slurry contains microbes that can be potentially used for bioremediation in endosulfan contaminated environments.