Environmental Pollutants and their Bioremediation Approaches

Ram Naresh Bharagava

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351700580
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

This book is a compilation of detailed and latest knowledge on the various types of environmental pollutants released from various natural as well as anthropogenic sources, their toxicological effects in environments, humans, animals and plants as well as various bioremediation approaches for their safe disposal into the environments. In this book, an extensive focus has been made on the various types of environmental pollutants discharged from various sources, their toxicological effects in environments, humans, animals and plants as well as their biodegradation and bioremediation approaches for environmental cleanup.

1 Bioremediation

An Eco-Sustainable Green Technology: Its Applications and Limitations

Ram Naresh Bharagava, Pankaj Chowdhary, and Gaurav Saxena

CONTENTS

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Bioremediation

1.3 Types of Bioremediation

1.3.1 In Situ Bioremediation

1.3.1.1 Bioattenuation

1.3.1.2 Biostimulation

1.3.1.3 Bioaugmentation

1.3.1.4 Some Other In Situ Bioremediation Technologies

1.3.2 Ex Situ Bioremediation

1.3.2.1 Landfarming

1.3.2.2 Compostings

1.3.2.3 Biopiles

1.3.2.4 Bioreactors

1.4 Various Factors Affecting the Bioremediation Process

1.5 How We Can Enhance Bioremediation

1.5.1 Genetic Engineering in Bioremediation

1.5.2 Role of Nano-Biotechnology in Bioremediation

1.6 Merits and Demerits of Bioremediation

1.6.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of In Situ Bioremediation

1.6.1.1 Advantages

1.6.1.2 Disadvantages

1.6.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Ex Situ Bioremediation

1.6.2.1 Solid-Phase Treatment

1.6.2.2 Slurry-Phase Treatment

1.7 Conclusion

Acknowledgments

References

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Increasing global consumption of several man-made products (paints, adhesives, gasoline, plastics, etc.) generates many toxic compounds, which is responsible for several adverse effects on living systems. Unfortunately, the production of these man-made compounds and changed agricultural practices have led to the widespread use of hazardous organic compounds and the subsequent increase in contaminant concentrations in the environment (Collins et al. 2002; Latha and Reddy 2013; Kang 2014; Saxena and Bharagava 2015). If these pollutants are released into the environment without adequate treatment, they could cause severe health problems and also destroy many fauna and flora. Various types of pollutants are spread through air and water into the ground, which has led to a variety of serious environmental and health problems throughout the world (Boopathy 2000).

The effects of water pollution are not only devastating to aquatic organisms but also to terrestrial animals and birds. More seriously, contaminated water destroys aquatic life and reduces reproductive ability. Ultimately, the water becomes unfit for human consumption or domestic exercise; in severe cases water even becomes a hazard to human health (Kaiser 2000). Large amounts of toxic chemicals are released into the environment, either deliberately as in the application of pesticides or accidentally as in the case of oil spills. Moreover, in the bioremediation process, various types of pollutants are removed, such as organic compounds, heavy metals, and various types of xenobiotic compounds, which are generated by several activities. Organic compounds, mostly human generated, have been widely used as industrial solvents, fuel components, and intermediates. Many manufactured products such as paints, adhesives, gasoline, and plastics contain harmful organic compounds (Collins et al. 2002; Brar et al. 2006; Kang 2014).

Many researchers have stepped up efforts to find more sustainable and cost-effective alternatives to using hazardous chemicals and treatments to remove existing harmful pollutants. However, bioremediation is a process in which beneficial microbiological agents, such as yeast, fungi, or bacteria, are used to clean up contaminated soil and water (Strong and Burgess 2008). It is defined as the elimination, attenuation, or transformation of polluting or contaminating substances by the application of biological processes. Contamination of soils, groundwater, sediments, surface water, and air with hazardous and toxic chemicals are serious problems, which have been faced by our world today (Boopathy 2000). Several microbial communities present in the environment efficiently degrade many toxic compounds. Most of them are degraded slowly (recalcitrant) and thus tend to accumulate in the environment. In some cases, this accumulation can constitute a severe hazard. Various elements of the chemical structures of many of these pollutants are beyond the biodegradation capabilities of microorganisms (Dejonghe et al. 2000).

In addition, bioremediation involves enhanced degradation of toxic compounds by transforming them into innocuous substances, specifically carbon dioxide and water. The process can be carried out either on-site (in situ bioremediation) by taking advantage of indigenous microorganisms or the introduction of bacterial or fungal strains or off-site in bioreactors (ex situ bioremediation) to achieve complete detoxification of toxic pollutants (Brar et al. 2006; Kumar et al. 2011; Orji et al. 2012; Hamzah et al. 2014). A variety of microorganisms capable of efficiently degrading toxic compounds and xenobiotics in the environment have been either isolated or engineered. However, the actual application of such microorganisms in bioremediation has not progressed with the same momentum as their invention, or as other innovations in the biotechnology arena. Bioremediation is a general concept that includes all those processes and actions that take place in order to biotransform an environment, already altered by contaminants, to its original status (Thassitou and Aryanitoyannis 2001).

The agricultural field has seen major progress with the use of genetically engineered organisms, which seems to be a very important tool for producing food for those in undeveloped countries using nonhosted areas. Industrial and environmental biotechnology are taking new paths, resulting in processes with clean technologies, with maximum production and fewer residues (Soccol et al. 2003; Ezezika and Singer 2010).

The field of biotechnology can be divided into four divisions: biomedical, agricultural, environmental, and industrial. Several works have been published that define the applications of bioremediation and physical, chemical, and biological conditions necessary to facilitate contaminant biodegradation (Romantschuk et al. 2000). Plant genetic engineering through inserting or overexpressing specific genes in the genome of the plants provides an efficient method to enhance the phytoremediation capacity of plants (James and Strand 2009; Ezezika and Singer 2010). Bioremediation is a function of various factors: the existence of a microbial population capable of degrading contaminants; contaminant bioavailability to microbes; environmental factors such as temperature, pH, and nutrients (organic, inorganic, and their availability); electron acceptor(s); redox potential; water activity; osmotic pressure; and concentration of contaminants (Thakur 2004; Al-Sulaimani et al. 2010; Kang 2014). This chapter intends to present a brief review of soil bioremediation, its development, and the main factors limiting its use; the characteristics of principal methods of bioremediation; and its application in soil contamination with pesticides, herbicides, oil (hydrocarbons), food waste, and heavy metals.

1.2 BIOREMEDIATION

Bioremediation is the use of biological organisms to solve an environmental problem such as contaminated soil or groundwater. Bioremediation is the use of living microorganisms to degrade environmental pollutants or to prevent pollution (Brar et al. 2006; Antizar-Ladislao 2010; Latha and Reddy 2013). In other words, it is a technology for removing pollutants from the environment and, thus, restoring the original natural surroundings and preventing further pollution. In bioremediation processes, various organisms and their products are involved with several strategies, such as bacteria (bacterial bioremediation), fungi (mycoremediation), algae (phycoremediation), plant (phytoremediation), rhizosphere (rhizoremediation), and biomolecules derived from organisms (derivative bioremediation). Bioremediation is basically a technique in which microorganisms are utilized for the management of biological waste. Their metabolism is utilized for the removal of pollutants from contaminated environments.

Bioremediation can occur on its own, which is natural attenuation, or can occur artificially by a...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Editor
• Contributors
• Chapter 1 Bioremediation: An Eco-Sustainable Green Technology—Its Applications and Limitations
• Chapter 2 Organic and Inorganic Pollutants in Industrial Wastes: Ecotoxicological Effects, Health Hazards, and Bioremediation Approaches
• Chapter 3 Pesticides Contamination in the Environments: Toxicological Effects, and Biodegradation and Bioremediation Mechanisms for Environmental Safety
• Chapter 4 Uranium Radionuclide Contamination in the Environment: Ecotoxicological Effects, Health Hazards, and Bioremediation
• Chapter 5 Dyes Contamination in the Environment: Ecotoxicological Effects, Health Hazards, and Biodegradation and Bioremediation Mechanisms for Environmental Cleanup
• Chapter 6 Lindane Contamination in the Environment: Toxicological Effects and Bioremediation Approaches
• Chapter 7 Toxic Metals Contamination in the Environment: Toxicological Effects and Bioremediation Approaches for Environmental Cleanup
• Chapter 8 Bioremediation of Nonaqueous Phase Liquids (NAPLs)-Polluted Soil-Water Resources
• Chapter 9 Microbial Strategies for Enhanced Phytoremediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soils
• Chapter 10 Microbial Cellulases and Their Applications in the Pulp and Paper Industry: An Emerging Paradigm
• Chapter 11 Phytoremediation: A Green Technology for Remediation of Metal-Contaminated Sites
• Chapter 12 Solid Waste: Environmental Threats and Management
• Chapter 13 Pollutants in Tannery Wastewater: Pharmacological Effects, and Bioremediation Approaches for Human Health Protection and Environmental Safety
• Chapter 14 Constructed Wetlands: An Emerging Phytotechnology for Degradation and Detoxification of Industrial Wastewaters
• Chapter 15 Biomedical Wastes: Environmental Threats and Management
• Index