Enzymatic technologies for remediation of hydrophobic organic pollutants in soil

Abstract

Worldwide there are numerous contaminated sites as a result of the widespread production and use of chemicals in industrial and military activities as well as poor schemes of waste disposal and accidental spillages. The implementation of strategies for decontamination and restoration of polluted sites has become a priority, being bioremediation with biological agents a promising alternative. Enzyme-based technologies offer several advantages over the use of microbial cells, provided that the biocatalyst meets specific requirements: efficiency to remove the target pollutant/s, non-dependency on expensive coenzymes or cofactors, enzyme stability, and an affordable production system. In this mini-review, the direct application of enzymes for in situ soil bioremediation is explored, and also novel ex situ enzymatic technologies are presented. This new perspective provides a valuable insight into the different enzymatic alternatives for decontamination of soils. Examples of recent applications are reported, including pilot-scale treatments and patented technologies, and the principles of operation and the main requirements associated are described. Furthermore, the main challenges regarding the applicability of enzymatic technologies for remediation of hydrophobic organic pollutants from soil are discussed.

Biocatalytic properties of cell surface display laccase for degradation of emerging contaminant acetaminophen in water reclamation

“…Enzyme biocatalysis, which uses biological enzymes to facilitate beneficial chemical transformations, has received increasing attention recently as a green chemistry alternative for industrial, biomedical, agricultural, and environmental applications (Zhu, Chen, & Wei, ). Particularly, enzyme biocatalysis holds great promise as a sustainable approach for degradation of persistent organic contaminants due to its advantages including high activity under ambient conditions, little generation of toxic byproducts, and low energy requirement (Dvorak, Bidmanova, Damborsky, & Prokop, ; Eibes, Arca‐Ramos, Feijoo, Lema, & Moreira, ; Hutchison, Guest, & Zilles, ; Hutchison et al, ; Schmid et al, ).…”

“…Particularly, enzyme biocatalysis holds great promise as a sustainable approach for degradation of persistent organic contaminants due to its advantages including high activity under ambient conditions, little generation of toxic byproducts, and low energy requirement (Dvorak, Bidmanova, Damborsky, & Prokop, 2014;Eibes, Arca-Ramos, Feijoo, Lema, & Moreira, 2015;Hutchison, Guest, & Zilles, 2017;Hutchison et al, 2013;Schmid et al, 2001).…”

The ability of Achromobacter sp. KW1 strain to biodegrade isomers of chlorotoluene

“…One of them is bioremediation – an environmentally friendly, cheap and efficient method based on the activity of microorganisms that metabolize chemicals into less harmful forms . Factors affecting the bioremediation process have been the subject of interest of many authors, and are described in many published papers . One of the important factors affecting bioremediation is long‐term contact between microorganisms and chemicals which are usually toxic to them.…”

Optimization of the Use of His6-OPH-Based Enzymatic Biocatalysts for the Destruction of Chlorpyrifos in Soil

“…The enzymes are highly selective in their activity, and the corresponding chemicals are easy to standardize and store. The enzymes are more mobile compared to microorganism cells, and can preserve their activity in the presence of both high and low concentration of toxic substances [ 44 ].…”