a method of degrading organic contaminants includes pre - treating the organic contaminants with an oxidizing promoter of in situ surfactant formation , extracting the organic contaminants with isopropanol followed by treatment with uv to dechlorinate pcbs and degrade biphenyls . a photoreactor uses a plastic coil in a flow through configuration , with six uv lamps , of which five are around the coil and one at the center . the photoreaction using the photoreactor is fast and efficient .