1. Biodépollution

1.1 Biodegradability of pollutants

The main factors influencing a product's biodegradability are :

• the availability of electron acceptors absolutely necessary for microbial action;

• water content ;

• pH ;

• temperature ;

• availability of mineral nutrients (N and P);

• the nature of the pollutant, its concentration in the environment and its accessibility.

The most important of these factors is certainly the first, namely the availability of electron acceptors, which in most situations is the limiting factor for the development of microbiological...