BIODEGRADATION OF ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR BISPHENOL A BY INDIGENOUS MICROBIAL CONSORTIUM OF WASTE WATER: A CASE STUDY

Bisphenol A(BPA) or 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl propane) has beenthe most havoc-wrecking polycarbonate pollutant released majorly from plasticandresin manufacturing industriesintothemunicipalwastes.As per USEPA, if it contaminates open water bodies and enters our food chain, it can act as an endocrine disruptor to aquatic creatures and a potential carcinogen to humans. Hence, removal of this compound is necessary from         the              environment. Conventional chemical/physical/mechanical mitigation processes further add to accumulation of toxic reagents in the environment. Hence, many researchers reported use of a few bacterial strains for biodegradation of BPA in sustainable, environmentally friendly pathways. Strains of Sphingomonas sp. MV1, Sphingomonasbisphenolicum A01, Sphingobium sp.BiD 32, Citrobacter freundii and Pseudomonas sp. have been reported to degrade 99.87% – 100% BPA within 72-110 hours at rates 1.61-2.2 μg/L/h by using enzyme coenzymes in tandem pathways. Laccase and oxidase enzymes with coenzymes NADH, NAD+, NADPH and NADP+ perform zero/first order oxidative degeneration reactions of BPA. Reported HPLC, GC-MS analysis showed formation of end products oxalic acid, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene and 2,9-dimethyldecane which proved to be non-toxic by algal toxicity testing. This information can further help future researchers to genetically engineer the established strains for faster, cost-effective mitigation of BPAin a green-technological mechanism.