Removing environmental organic pollutants with bioremediation and phytoremediation

Abstract

Hazardous organic pollutants represent a threat to human, animal, and environmental health. If left unmanaged, these pollutants could cause concern. 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. Environmental biotechnology, such as bioremediation and phytoremediation, is a promising field that utilizes natural resources including microbes and plants to eliminate toxic organic contaminants. This technology offers an attractive alternative to other conventional remediation processes because of its relatively low cost and environmentally-friendly method. This review discusses current biological technologies for the removal of organic contaminants, including chlorinated hydrocarbons, focusing on their limitation and recent efforts to correct the drawbacks.

The ways to increase efficiency of soil bioremediation

“…The third group of factors comprises the presence therein of various microorganisms that can interact negatively or positively with each other, type and location of the secreted enzymes etc. [9,10]. Fig.…”

“…Natural bioremediation occurs automatically and is associated with the circuit of elements in the environment. Natural bioremediation is especially important in the case of spills of petroleum products, as their distribution is monitored, and the migration of contamination, growth rate, microbial activity and the presence of biogenic elements are tracked [2,9].…”

“…In addition, the microorganisms used in bioaugmentation should be characterized by mobility, the ability to adhere, elasticity (resistance to changes in pH, metal concentration), short survival in an environment, where the lack of xenobiotics causes them to decay, and provide strong competition for the indigenous microflora [2,29]. One of the conditions of supplying soil with microorganisms in the contaminated soil is to ensure that biopreparations placed in the soil should be completely safe for humans and the environment and that they should be certified by the National Institute of Hygiene, which guarantees that the introduced strains are not pathogenic [9].…”

“…Endophytes, ie bacteria and fungi that live in the vicinity of plant tissues or in the intercellular spaces without causing any disease, can help phytoremediation of contaminated soils with eg toluene, phenol, trichloroethanol and other toxic substances. Furthermore, endophytes introduced into the soil enhance plant growth and improve their resistance to unfavorable factors such as drought or infections [9]. Enhancing phytoremediation of contaminated soils with 'for example' heavy metals, could also include the introduction of microorganisms inhabiting the rhizosphere zone known as Plant-Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria/Bacteria (PGPR/PGPB).…”

“…Of course, the degree of degradation will depend on the catalytic efficiency of enzymes present in the cells or the ones induced to particular substrates [9].…”