Eight commercial catalysts (Nickel-Raney, Ni on SiO2, Pd on alumina, Pt on both alumina and activated carbon, Rh on alumina, Ru on alumina and sulfided Ni-Mo on alumina) were tested as catalysts for the hydrodechlorination of the six organochlorinated compounds that are released into the environment in the greatest amounts: dichloromethane, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. Hydrodechlorination experiments were carried out in discontinuous micro-reactors at 50 bar of hydrogen and at 300 degrees C, and during reaction times of 30, 60 and 90 min, using 4 vol% solutions of the organochlorinated compounds in heptane. Pt catalysts were found to yield the highest conversions for the reactions studied. (C)2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.