Abstract
Cleanup of herbicide-contaminated soils has been a dire environmental concern since the advent of industrial era. Although microorganisms are excellent degraders of herbicide compounds in the soil, some reparation may need to be brought about, in order to stimulate them to degrade the herbicide at a faster rate in a confined time frame. “Biostimulation” through the appropriate utilization of organic amendments and nutrients can accelerate the degradation of herbicides in the soil. However, effective use of biostimulants requires thorough comprehension of the global redox cycle during the microbial degradation of the herbicide molecules in the soil. In this paper, we present the prospects of using biostimulation as a powerful remediation strategy for the rapid cleanup of herbicide-polluted soils.
Highlights
The term “biostimulation” is often used to describe the addition of electron acceptors, electron donors, or nutrients to stimulate naturally occurring microbial populations [1]
The reduction in microbial degradation of herbicides is often explained by the decrease of pesticide availability after increase in their sorption [80]
Herbicides are a group of organic compounds that possess far-reaching environmental consequences when persistent in the soil
Summary
The term “biostimulation” is often used to describe the addition of electron acceptors, electron donors, or nutrients to stimulate naturally occurring microbial populations [1]. Even though the diversity of natural microbial populations apparently displays the potential for contaminant remediation at polluted sites, factors such as lack of electron acceptors or donors, low nitrogen or phosphorus availability, or a lack of stimulation of the metabolic pathways responsible for degradation can inhibit or delay the remediation In these cases, accumulation of exogenous nutrients can enhance the degradation of the toxic materials [5]. Most environmental fate processes, including sorption, hydrolysis, volatilization, transport, and accumulation of bound residues, are coupled with degradation in the environment [10] Each of these processes may respond differently to environmental conditions; in order to effectively use biostimulation for enhancing herbicide degradation, it is important to consider the impact of process coupling on remediation goals. The purpose of this paper is to abate the ambiguity in embracing biostimulation as a viable remediation strategy for the cleanup of herbicides from contaminated soils
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