In situ bioremediationâ€"the use of microorganisms for on-site removal of contaminantsâ€"is potentially cheaper, faster, and safer than conventional cleanup methods. But in situ bioremediation is also clouded in uncertainty, controversy, and mistrust. This volume from the National Research Council provides direction for decisionmakers and offers detailed and readable explanations of: the processes involved in in situ bioremediation, circumstances in which it is best used, and methods of measurement, field testing, and modeling to evaluate the results of bioremediation projects. Bioremediation experts representing academic research, field practice, regulation, and industry provide accessible information and case examples; they explore how in situ bioremediation works, how it has developed since its first commercial use in 1972, and what research and education efforts are recommended for the future. The volume includes a series of perspective papers. The book will be immediately useful to policymakers, regulators, bioremediation practitioners and purchasers, environmental groups, concerned citizens, faculty, and students.

Increased industrial and agricultural activity this century has led to vast quantities of the earth's soil and groundwater resources becoming contaminated with hazardous chemicals. Bioremediation provides a technology based on the use of living organisms, usually bacteria and fungi, to remove pollutants from soil and water, preferably in situ. This approach, which is potentially more cost-effective than traditional techniques such as incineration of soils and carbon filtration of water, requires an understanding of how organisms transform chemicals, how they survive in polluted environments and how they should be employed in the field. This book examines these issues for many of the most serious and common environmental contaminants, resulting in a volume which presents the most recent position on the application of bioremediation to the cleanup of polluted soil and water.

The use of biological methods and processes for the remediation of contaminated soils and aquifers is the focus of this text, which emphasizes the characteristics of organic compounds and factors which make organics amenable to biological treatment.

This book presents a broad compendium of biodegradation research and discussions on the most up-to-date bioremediation strategies. The most relevant microbiological, biochemical and genetic concepts are presented alongside the fundamentals of bioremediation. The topics include: a wide variety of contaminant impacts evaluation, key methodologies required to measure biodegradation and propose new bioremediation protocols, as well as the handling of microbial communities related to such processes. The selected collaborating authors are renowned for their microbiology expertise and will provide an in-depth reference for students and specialists. The contents provide a valuable source of information for researchers, professionals, and policy makers alike.

Bioremediation for Environmental Sustainability: Toxicity, Mechanisms of Contaminants Degradation, Detoxification and Challenges introduces pollution and toxicity profiles of various organic and inorganic contaminants, including mechanisms of toxicity, degradation, and detoxification by microbes and plants, and their bioremediation approaches for environmental sustainability. The book also covers many advanced technologies in the field of bioremediation and phytoremediation, including electro-bioremediation, microbial fuel cells, nano-bioremediation, constructed wetlands, phytotechnologies, and many more, which are lacking in other competitive titles existing in the market. The book includes updated information, as well as future directions for research, in the field of bioremediation of industrial wastes. This book is a reference for students, researchers, scientists, and professionals in the fields of microbiology, biotechnology, environmental sciences, eco-toxicology, environmental remediation, and waste management, especially those who aspire to work on the biodegradation and bioremediation of industrial wastes and environmental pollutants for environmental sustainability. Environmental safety and sustainability with rapid industrialization is one of the major challenges worldwide. Industries are the key drivers in the world economy, but these are also the major polluters due to discharge of potentially toxic and hazardous wastes containing various organic and inorganic pollutants, which cause environmental pollution and severe toxic effects in living beings.

FROM THE INTRODUCTION This three-volume series, Bioremediation: Principles and Practice, provides state of the art description of advances in pollution treatment and reduction using biological means; identify and address, at a fundamental level, broad scientific and technological areas that are unique to the subject or theme and that must be understood if advances are to be made; and provide a comprehensive overview of new developments at the regulatory, desk-top, bench-scale, pilot scale, and full-scale levels. The series covers all media-air, water, and soil/sediment-and blends the talents, knowledge, and know-how of academic, industrial, governmental, and international contributors. The series addresses the removal of both hazardous and nonhazardous contaminants from the liquid, solid, and gas phase using biological processes. This includes the biological treatment of wastes of municipal and industrial origin; bioremediation of leachates, soils, and sediments; and biofiltration for contaminated gases.

FROM THE INTRODUCTION This three-volume set, Bioremediation: Principles and Practice, provides state of the art description of advances in pollution treatment and reduction using biological means; identify and address, at a fundamental level, broad scientific and technological areas that are unique to the subject or theme and that must be understood if advances are to be made; and provide a comprehensive overview of new developments at the regulatory, desk-top, bench-scale, pilot scale, and full-scale levels. The set covers all media-air, water, and soil/sediment-and blends the talents, knowledge, and know-how of academic, industrial, governmental, and international contributors. The set addresses the removal of both hazardous and nonhazardous contaminants from the liquid, solid, and gas phase using biological processes. This includes the biological treatment of wastes of municipal and industrial origin; bioremediation of leachates, soils, and sediments; and biofiltration for contaminated gases.

A groundbreaking text and professional resource on natural attenuation technology Natural attenuation is rapidly becoming a widely used approach to manage groundwater and soil contamination by hazardous substances in petroleum-product releases and leachate from hazardous waste sites and landfills. This book provides, under one cover, the current methodologies needed by groundwater scientists and engineers in their efforts to evaluate subsurface contamination problems, to estimate risk to human health and ecosystems through mathematical models, and to design and formulate appropriate remediation strategies. Incorporating the authors' extensive backgrounds as educators, researchers, and consultants in environmental biotechnology and hydrogeology, the text emphasizes new concepts and recent advances in the science, including: Quantification of the role of microbes in natural attenuation Biodegradation and chemical transformation principles Immobilization and phase change Biotransformation mechanisms Groundwater flow and contaminant transport Analytical models for contaminant transport and reaction processes Numerical modeling of contaminant transport, transformation, and degradation Detailed descriptions of fundamental processes, characterization approaches, and analytical and numerical methods tied to relevant real-world applications make Bioremediation and Natural Attenuation: Process Fundamentals and Mathematical Models both a timely course text in hydrogeology and environmental engineering and a valuable reference for anyone in the groundwater or risk assessment professions.

Microbial or biological degradation has long been the subject of active concern, and the rapid expansion and growing sophistication of various industries in the last century has significantly increased the volume and complexity of toxic residues of wastes. These can be remediated by plants and microbes, either natural origin or adapted for a specific purpose, in a process known as bioremediation. The interest in microbial biodegradation of pollutants has intensified in recent years in an attempt to find sustainable ways to clean contaminated environments. These bioremediation and biotransformation methods take advantage of the tremendous microbial catabolic diversity to degrade, transform or accumulate a variety of compounds, such as hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, polaromatic hydrocarbons pharmaceutical substances, radionuclides and metals. Unlike conventional methods, bioremediation does not physically disturb the site. This book describes the basic principles of biodegradation and shows how these principles are related to bioremediation. Authored by leading, international environmental microbiologists, it discusses topics such as aerobic biodegradation, microbial degradation of pollutants, and microbial community dynamics. It provides valuable insights into how biodegration processes work and can be utilised for pollution abatement, and as such appeals to researchers and postgraduate students as well as experts in the field of bioremediation.

This edited volume deals with the understanding of the issues concerned with the pollution caused by toxic elements and heavy metals and their impacts on the different agro-ecosystems as well as the techniques involved in sustainable remediation and amelioration of polluted soils. Furthermore, the book is a detailed comprehensive account for the treatment technologies from unsustainable to sustainable which includes chapters prepared by professionals with expertise in environmental microbiology, biotechnology, bioremediation, and environmental engineering. It focuses on the characterization, reclamation, bioremediation, and phytoremediation of polluted soils. The research presented also highlights some of the significantly important plant and microbial species involved in remediation, the physiology, biochemistry, and the mechanisms of remediation by various plants and microbes, and suggestions for future improvement of bioremediation technology. It offers insights into the current focus and recent advances in bioremediation and green technology applications for sustainable soil management.