Advances in the production of extracellular reactive oxygen species and its promotion on the biodegradation of organic pollutants

Abstract:

Biological treatment, with the characteristic of low cost and slightly environmental impact, has become a main removal pathway of environmental organic pollutants. The disadvantage is that the treatment time is long, especially for refractory organic pollutants, which may need several decades or even hundreds of years. Extracellular reactive oxygen species (EROS), with the ability of promoting biodegradation of refractory organic pollutants, were oxygen-containing active group generated from the metabolism of microorganisms. Recently, researches related to the effect of EROS on biodegradation of refractory organic pollutants increased sharply. However, no relative review has been reported yet. In this paper, the latest research achievements on the production of EROS and its promotion on biodegradation of refractory organic pollutants have been summarized, mainly from the aspects of introduction of EROS, producing microbes, generation mechanism, promotion on the degradation of refractory organic pollutants, future direction and challenges, aiming at providing a guidance for the following researchers.