Biodegradation of pollutants in soil is greatly limited by the availability of terminal electron acceptors
required for supporting microbial respiration. Such limitation can be overcome if soil-buried electrodes
accept the electrons released in the microbial metabolism. We propose the term bioelectroventing for
such a environmental treatment. The process would be performed in a device so-called Microbial
Electroremediating Cell. Indeed, our studies demonstrate that the presence of electrodes as electron
acceptors effectively stimulated by 5-fold the biodegradation rate of the herbicide atrazine (2-chloro-4ethylamino-6-isopropyl
amino-1,3,5-triazine) in comparison with soil natural attenuation. Furthermore,
a different set of toxicological test using Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata green alga e, Salmonella typhimorium
bacteria and Sorghum saccharatum plant seeds respectively, confirm that atrazine-polluted soil
can be effectively cleaned-up in short time by the use of MERCs.