Biodegradation of atrazine in sand sediments and in a sand-filter.

The potential of a microbial consortium for treating waters contaminated with atrazine was considered. In conventional liquid culture, atrazine and its two dealkylated by-products were equally metabolised by the microbial consortium. Transient production of hydroxyatrazine was observed during atrazine catabolism, indicating that the catabolic pathway was similar to the one reported for isolates capable of atrazine mineralisation.