Bisphenol A Degradation by Bacteria Isolated from River Water

Recently, there is increasing interest in the microbial degradation of endocrine disruptors. This study was conducted to show the isolation and property of bacteria having bisphenol A (BPA) biodegradability in river water and to identify the difference of BPA degradation under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Three river water samples spiked with BPA (1 mg/L) were rapidly degraded under aerobic conditions. The half-life for BPA degradation ranged from 2 to 3 days, and BPA was below detection limit (less than 0.005 mg/L) on the 10th day. But a decrease of BPA under anaerobic conditions was hardly identified at 30°C for 10 days (less than 10%). Also, most bacteria (10 out of 11) isolated from three river waters had BPA biodegradability, but there were differences in removal rates of BPA (18% to 91%). Moreover, two strains that had high BPA biodegradability (about 90%) were identified as a Pseudomonas sp. and a Pseudomonas putida strain.