Soil Bioremediation: Overview of Technologies and Trends

Abstract

Petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals and agricultural pesticides have mutagenic, carcinogenic, immunotoxic and teratogenic effects and cause drastic changes in soil physicochemical and microbiological characteristics, thereby representing a serious danger to health and environment. Therefore, soil pollution urgently requires the application of a series of physicochemical and biological techniques and treatments to minimize the extent of damage. Among them, bioremediation has been shown to be an alternative that can offer an economically viable way to restore polluted areas. Due to the difficulty in choosing the best bioremediation technique for each type of pollutant and the paucity of literature on soil bioremediation enhanced by the use of specific additives, we reviewed the main in situ and ex situ methods, their current properties and applications. The first section discusses the characteristics of each class of pollutants in detail, while the second section presents current bioremediation technologies and their main uses, followed by a comparative analysis showing their respective advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we address the application of surfactants and biosurfactants as well as the main trends in the bioremediation of contaminated soils.

Effects of Abiotic Stress on Soil Microbiome

“…The moisture content of soil is an extremely important component that affects soil biological activity [77]. Excess water in the soil environment is especially dangerous to aerobic microorganisms [78] as availability of O 2 is considerably lower in water compared to air [79]. Microbial growth and activity is inhibited [75], mineralization of N and C was reduced [80], and structure of microbial communities is shifted [81] in water.…”

Bibliometric Analysis of Hydrocarbon Bioremediation in Cold Regions and a Review on Enhanced Soil Bioremediation

“…Nutrients are essential energy for microbes to grow and degrade hydrocarbons, while ozonation is used to accelerate partial oxidation of recalcitrant pollutants into volatile vapours. Enhanced bioventing has been proven effective for the clean-up of the small-scale, medium molecular weight hydrocarbon pollution in soils owing to the higher oxygen supply [ 95 ]. Medium-weight hydrocarbons such as diesel, bitumen and gasoline are volatile compounds that can volatilise into smaller BTEX (i.e., benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) vapours [ 95 ].…”

“…Enhanced bioventing has been proven effective for the clean-up of the small-scale, medium molecular weight hydrocarbon pollution in soils owing to the higher oxygen supply [ 95 ]. Medium-weight hydrocarbons such as diesel, bitumen and gasoline are volatile compounds that can volatilise into smaller BTEX (i.e., benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) vapours [ 95 ]. Besides petroleum hydrocarbons, bioventing is also used in anaerobic bioremediation of chlorinated pollutants.…”

From landfills to landscapes—Nature‐based solutions for water management taking into account legacy contamination

“…In certain cases, simply allowing air access to polluted soil is enough to volatilize certain chemicals (such as volatile organic compounds such as benzene). Certain organic pollutants including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene Accepted Article and xylene (Weelink et al 2010), short chain chlorinated compounds and oil components can be degraded by native bacteria (da Silva et al 2020). This process is most often limited by access to electron acceptors (O 2 , NO 3 -, SO 4 2-, CH 4 ) or electron donors (organic carbon) and can thus be stimulated by supplying oxygen or another oxidizer.…”