DETOXIFICATION OF SYNTHETIC PYRETHROID INSECTICIDES BY THERMOPHILIC MICROORGANISMS

Microbially-mediated detoxification of five synthetic pyrethroid insec ticides was achieved by a mixed culture growing anaerobically at 75 de grees C. These pyrethroids were hydrolysed to non-insecticidal product s after a period of 4-8 weeks' incubation. Of these five permethrin wa s the most readily transformed and Fastac the most recalcitrant. The m ixed culture consisted of a facultative anaerobe and two other obligat e anaerobes including a methanogen. This culture was derived from terr estrial sediments from hot-springs in New Zealand. This is the first r eported microbial biotransformation of these xenobiotics at a temperat ure of 75 degrees C.