Containment in Industrial Biotechnology within Waste Water Treatment Plants

July 2002

Published in Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (2002) 28, 65-69

By Johan A.C. Noordover, Joep J.M. Hofmeester, Jaap P. van der Burg, Albert de Leeuw , Piet W. M. van Dijck, Ruud G.M. Luiten and Gert S.P. Groot
DSM Food Specialties R&D, Delft, Netherlands

Both physical and biological containment is considered to be an essential part in the risk-analysis of industrial GILSP-processes using genetically modified micro organisms (gmo's).
Biological containment of industrial micro organisms has become a more important issue since the introduction of recombinant DNA techniques. In the event of an accidental discharge in the production plant a large amount of organisms could be released into the wastewater treatment system. This wastewater treatment system should therefore be considered as a part of the containment.
This study shows both a hydrodynamic and a microbiological model for the containment aspects of industrial wastewater treatment (WWT) plant. The models are verified by measurements using industrial hosts of GILSP-gmo's on full scale. Both models describe the full-scale equipment accurately. The results are supplemented with microcosm studies on survival of gmo's in defined niches.
It is shown that WWT plants can be considered as a useful additional part of the containment of micro organisms, in case of an accidental discharge. The effect of drainage of an enormous amount of micro organisms (several tons) through the WWT plant into the environment is shown to be comparable to the direct drainage of a small-scale fermenter. Microcosm experiments proved to correlate well with the survival rates observed in the WWT and therefore can be of use to predict the behaviour of gmo's in this environment.

Back to the Publications & Presentations 2002 overview