Vinyl chloride degrading bacteria

For many years, the only established mechanism for biodegradation of vinyl chloride was reductive dechlorination to ethylene and ethane. The rate of reductive dechlorination of vinyl chloride is slower than that of dichloroethylene therefore vinyl chloride should be expected to accumulate in ground water plumes (2). Contrary to this expectation, trichloroethylene and dichloroethylene disappear in many plumes without the accumulation of vinyl chloride, ethylene, or ethane. In recent years, it has been recognized that bacteria in aquifers can use a variety of electron acceptors to oxidize cis-dichloroethylene or vinyl chloride to carbon dioxide. Microbial Degradation of cis-dichloroethylene has... 

---