Contamination and Bioremediation of Atrazine

Abstract

Atrazine is a herbicide used for agricultural propose in many countries worldwide. The contamination of atrazine in soil and water occurs typically in agricultural areas. Atrazine is a biodegradable compound. Some bacteria could use atrazine as a sole source of nitrogen for their growth. There are 2 phases of atrazine biodegradation by bacteria, i.e. 1) breaking down atrazine to cyanuric acid reaction, and 2) complete cyanuric acid degradation. Also, the plant could release enzymes from the root to transform atrazine or root exudates to stimulate the degradation of atrazine by soil microorganisms. Moreover, aquatic plants could uptake and change atrazine within plant tissue. With these properties, bioremediation technology to remove atrazine contamination in the environment was developed, including bioremediation and phytoremediation. In this article, the contamination of atrazine in agricultural areas, the atrazine removal mechanism of microorganisms and plants, and the application of bioremediation technology to restore atrazine contaminated soil and water were also described.