On the basis of degradability, the orgnic pollutants can be classified into 4 basic

types:
1. very easily degradable
2. easily degradable
3. potentially degradable
4. very slowly degradable

1. very easily degradable

it incudes simple sugars, amino acids, organic acids and other simple short
polymers.
a variety of organisms inculding bacteria, fungi, protozoa and algae possess the
ability to degrade these pollutants.
thus they can be easily removed by organisms through direct uptake and
assimilation for their growth.
mostly degraded under aerobic conditions but some times anaerobic conditions.
they have retention time of less than one day.

2. easily degradable
branched and straight chained polysaccarides, proteins, fatty acids and some
organic acids are of this type.
mostly does not require adaptation of micro-organisms but in some cases
adaptation to such pollutant is a requirement if the pollutant is not a general
substrate for supporting the growth of microbes.
For example, some pollutants like organophosphorus and pyrethroid pestcides, fatty
acids and aliphatic hydrocarbons are only degraded by adapted strains of bacteria.
the time required for adaptation differs with the pollutant types and adaptability of
the microbes.
involvement of more than one bacterial strains accelerated the degradation
process.
the retention time of such pollutant is 10-14 days.

3. potentially degradable
complex substances like saturated fats, oils, lipo-polysaccharides, lipoproteins, fats
of neutral nature and aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons are of this type.

degradation of such substances usually occurs slowly with prolonged exogenous

activity at extremely high bacterial densities.
only adaptive strains of bacteria are able to perform the degradation of such
pollutants, but to accelerate degradation, artificial conditions are required for
enhancing the bacterial growth e.g. artificial inoculation and addition of substrates
to support bacterial growth.
the retention time of such pollutants in the environment, under optimum condition
is about three weeks.
4. very slowly degradable
recalcitrants like lignocellulose (lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose), organochlorines,
PCB, insecticides abd some aromatic hydrocarbons belong to this caregory of
pollutant.
degradation is very slow even when the biomass of microbe is very high.
these pollutants require a comparatively high concentration of exoenzymes to
initiate the degradation process.
only adaptive strains of microbes or specially designed strains can perform
degradation.

Mechanism of persistance of pollutant in the environment.

in case of pollutants with extremely slow rate of degradation, their concentration in
the soil and ground water is enhanced, especiallywhen the rate of entry of the
pollutant into the environment is higher than its rate of removal. During their
residance and possible degradation in the water column, they produce strong bonds
with particular organic matters and are adsorbed on their surface.
the adsorption is followed by precipitation and the addition of the complex to the
sediment.
thus through percipitation they undergo bioaccumulation and inturn
biomagnification in the organisms.