The microbial removal of toxic waste

Abstract

The rapid growth of the global chemical industry over the last 35 years has meant that there have been both increased amounts and complexity of toxic waste effluents. Global chemical output increased by 63% in the period from 1996 to 20101; this increase has led to an unprecedented release into the environment of a vast array of chemicals. Bioremediation is now a successful environmental biotechnology used for the remediation of these pollutants, having a number of advantages (for example, cost, environmental friendly means of disposal) over any alternative treatment such as placing in landfill or incineration. Bioremediation offers the opportunity to utilise the natural microbial population to treat the contaminated site, returning the elements making up the contaminants to natural nutrient cycling.