Bioremediation - prospects for the future application of innovative applied biological research

Abstract

Summary It has been estimated that there may be as much as 300 000 ha in the UK where contamination from previous industrial land use has occurred. The ‘Source‐Pathway‐Receptor’ model is used to evaluate these risks. Traditional engineering approaches have dominated remediation technology, but biological methods have become increasingly important in recent years. ‘Bioremediation’ has been defined as ‘the elimination, attenuation or transformation of polluting or contaminating substances by the use of biological processes’. Techniques to treat soil materials include biopiling, windrowing, landfarming and bioventing, all of which depend on microbiological degradation. However, increasingly it also includes the use of vegetation to take up and/or degrade contaminants (phytoremediation) or restrict contaminant movement (phytostabilisation). Phytoremediation can be encouraged by manipulation of the rhizosphere, using selected fungal isolates in a process now defined as phytobial remediation.

Bioaugmentation, Biostimulation, and Biocontrol in Soil Biology

“…Microbes provide a link between roots and the soil, changing metal availability and toxicity. Some bacteria, such as biosurfactant-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa, are able to decrease metal solubility and its mobility, minimizing its phytotoxicity (Lynch and Moffat 2005;Jing et al 2007;Juwarkar et al 2007). Microbe-assisted phytoremediation techniques have been used in the treatment of trichloroethylene, PCBs, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Zhuang et al 2007).…”

Biochemical and Molecular Aspects in Phytoremediation of Selenium

“…These can be not cost effective or even environmentally justified for marginally affected sites. The methods can be diverse but usually include excavation and entombment or variations of these methods Lynch and Moffat (2005). The methods are not likely to diminish or alleviate the hazardous material, and more importantly they cannot reduce landfill capacity.…”

Organic by-products for sustainable soil remediation -the effect of 3 different amendments on the degradation of diesel fuel in a tropical ultisol

“…Traditional remediation technologies for contaminated soils include soil excavation, soil vapour extraction, landfarming and natural attenuation (Lynch & Moffat, 2005). Bioremediation is an increasingly used technology that uses living organisms and their enzymes to degrade, remove or immobilize toxic compounds (Vidali, 2001).…”