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Conference paper2008

Biobeds - Biotechnology for Environmental Protection from Pesticide Pollution

Castillo, Maria del pilar; Torstensson, Lennart

Abstract

Point sources of pesticides, for instance frequently occurring at the filling of spraying equipment, are one of the most dominant reasons for pesticide pollution of surface and ground waters today. This contaminant risk can be minimized by using biobeds. Biobeds are facilities intended to retain and degrade pesticide spills. In its original design they consist of a biomixture, a clay layer at the bottom and a grass cover on the surface. The typical Swedish biomixture consists of straw, topsoil and peat (50-25-25 % v/v). The straw stimulates the growth of lignin-degrading fungi and the formation of ligninolytic enzymes (such as manganese and lignin peroxidases), which can degrade many different pesticides. The soil provides sorption capacity and other degrading microorganisms and the peat contributes to high sorption capacity and also helps to regulate the humidity of the system. A grass layer covering the biobed also helps to keep the correct humidity and can be used as an indicator revealing pesticide spills. The clay acts as an impermeable layer at the bottom. More than 1500 biobeds are in use in Sweden today and this concept has proven to be an effective and inexpensive solution to mitigate the release of pesticides to the environment.

Keywords

biobeds; pesticides; peroxidases; white-rot fungi

Published in

NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security
2008, pages: 145-151
Title: Methods and Techniques for Cleaning-up Contaminated Sites
ISBN: 978-1-4020-6873-7
Publisher: Springer

Conference

NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Methods and Techniques for Cleaning-up Contaminated Sites

      SLU Authors

      • Sustainable Development Goals

      Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

      UKÄ Subject classification

      Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
      Agricultural Science

      Publication identifier

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6875-1_13

      Permanent link to this page (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/17662