Paper Title
Innovative Technology for Pesticides-Contaminated Water Treatment Using Encapsulated Fungi

Abstract
We evaluated the degradation of a mixture of atrazine (ATZ), chlorpyrifos (CHL) and iprodione (IPR) using encapsulated fungi obtained from a biopurification system (BPS). For degradation study, two selected fungi individually encapsulated (H5 and H12) and joint encapsulated (H5-H12) were used. Erlenmeyer flasks (1000 mL) with Kirk medium (250 mL) were inoculated with the encapsulated fungi (1 to 30%) and a mixture of the above-mentioned pesticides at 50 mg L−1 each was added. Flasks were incubated for 21 days at 30 ± 1 °C and 120 rpm. Samples were extracted periodically for pesticides and metabolites quantification (HPLC) and enzymatic activities determination. Then, kinetic parameters were calculated. Main results showed that the degradation of the three pesticides increased as encapsulated fungi percentage raised. At the same time, t1/2 of pesticides decreased and k value increased significantly (p<0.05) as encapsulated fungi percentage raised. CHL was the highest and fastest degraded compound when H5-H12 join encapsulated fungi were added (>99%). An adequate technology using encapsulated fungi with the ability to degrade pesticides at high concentrations avoid the risks of environment contamination by pesticides. Keywords - Biopurification System, Pesticides Degradation, Encapsulated Fungi