Chapter 1 - Bioremediation: principles and applications in environmental management

Abstract

Today’s industrialized world is facing a major environmental problem due to contamination of environmental sites, that is, air, soil, sediments, groundwater, and surface water, with toxic and hazardous pollutants (heavy metals, phthalate esters, pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, nitro and halogenated organic pollutants, and greenhouse gases). Due to the low effectiveness and harmful effects of conventional waste remediation techniques, a recent technology, that is, bioremediation has emerged in recent decades. The bioremediation process is considered a cost-effective, safe, reliable, relatively efficient, and eco-friendly process in comparison to other conventional remediation techniques, as it incorporates microbes and their metabolic activity to degrade contaminants. The bioremediation process can be done in two ways, that is, ex situ and in situ bioremediation. This chapter provides a comprehensive view of the bioremediation process, types of bioremediation and their principles, factors affecting bioremediation, the advantage and disadvantages of bioremediation along with their solutions, and the prospects of bioremediation.