Bioremediation of soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum, pesticides, chlorophenols and heavy metals by composting: Applications, microbes and future research needs

The ways to increase efficiency of soil bioremediation

“…Fuel penetration into the permeable soil is held vertically, and after getting into the groundwater -horizontally. Therefore, it seems reasonable to apply in the first phase of soil remediation sorbents additionally enriched with active microbial biomass, as reported by Chen et al [5]. The task of the sorbent is primarily to inhibit migration of toxic and not readily degradable substances.…”

“…In the process of bioremediation supporting, one can use natural sorbents, eg from Sphagnum moss, which can be easily decomposed [18]. This solution presented in the work by Chen et al [5], where after the thermal treatment process, moss cells change their character from hydrophilic to hydrophobic, allowing for the absorption of hydrocarbons. Humic acids contained in the moss react with hydrocarbons, and the bacteria for which the hydrocarbons are the medium start to decompose them.…”

“…Additionally, different nutrients can be introduced (generally nitrogen and phosphorus), which facilitate the growth of microorganisms [5]. In the application of sorbents in bioremediation, it is important that they should be safe to the environment [5,18].…”

“…Microorganisms play a "catalytic role" in the degradation and mineralization of various xenobiotics, their assimilation or transformation into non-toxic chemicals (biotransformation) [5]. The plants have the ability to detoxify certain xenobiotics (eg heavy metals, radionuclides) in the soil.…”

“…Bioremediation offers an environmentally friendly, economically and socially acceptable removal of xenobiotics using microorganisms, plants and enzymatic remediation [4] and the yield of bioremediation processes will depend on the properties of the contaminants and environmental conditions [5,7]. The main problem of bioremediation technologies is the removal of the most difficult degradable components from the environment and removing of residual pollutants in the final process of biodegradation.…”