A Review of Biodegradation and Abiotic Degradation of Carbon Tetrachloride

Abstract

Volatile organochlorines (VOCs) are widely present in our environment and can be used as good solvents, paints, degreases, and various industrial and commercial products, can be detected in soil, air, and any kind of polluted water medium.  Carbon tetrachloride (CT), as a typical volatile organochlorine compound, has stable chemical properties, long half-life and long residence time in polluted environment. CT is mainly produced by anthropogenic conditions and rarely directly by nature. There is currently no microbial system capable of using CT as the only carbon source. Microbes that use CT as terminal electron acceptor have not been reported, but the corresponding degradation pathways have been studied. Known modes of CT biodegradation involve a variety of microbial metabolites, mainly metal-bound coenzymes and ferriferous carriers produced by facultative or obligate anaerobic bacteria and methanogenic archaea. In this paper, biological and abiotic methods of CT degradation were reviewed, factors affecting CT dechlorination and microbial degradation in contaminated sites were discussed, and the future development direction was prospected.