Chapter 14 - Enzyme-based biodegradation of toxic environmental pollutants

Abstract

Environmental pollution is growing leaps and bounds due to the frequent release of hazardous and harmful pollutants from various industries. The demand of treating this environmental pollution has necessitated the requirement for an alternative waste treatment process. Various efforts have been made to develop economical and sustainable treatment methods capable of causing degradation of waste and eliminating environmental pollution. Bioremediation is hence an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternate to degrade and manage the toxic pollutants. Among biological agents, enzymes from diverse microorganisms present in the environment play an essential role in the waste treatment applications. Enzymes have the potential to degrade and detoxify harmful waste because of their ability to transform different pollutants at a measurable rate and to restore the polluted environment appropriately. Enzymes while using their biodegradation property are capable to change the characteristics of different complex harmful pollutants to the suitable simpler value-added products. Therefore, enzymes have been considered as a boon to retain a clean environment, suitably following the approach for sustainable development. This chapter focuses on various enzymes capable of transforming harmful pollutants into innocuous products along with their limitations and various applications in the removal of toxic pollutants and restoring the environment.