The presence of glass beads or Triton X-100 in the medium enhances the aerobic dechlorination of Aroclor 1221 in Pseudomonas sp. CPE1 culture.

The culture pure Pseudomonas sp. CPE1 strain capable of metabolizing low-chlorinated biphenyls in the presence of biphenyl was found to be able to grow on Aroclor 1221 in the absence of an additional carbon source. The presence of glass beads (diameter = 3 mm, 30% w/v) or Triton X-100 (0.066% v/v) in the culture medium significantly enhanced the aerobic dechlorination of the polychlorinated biphenyls present in Aroclor 1221 in batch cultures of CPE1 strain. This result has been ascribed to an increase of Aroclor 1221 bioavailability in the cultures containing glass beads or Triton X-100, probably deriving from a greater interface area PCB-water, i.e. the surface area on which the polychlorobiphenyl degradation seems to take place.