Chapter 16 - Bioremediation of nuclear waste effluent using different communities of microbes

Abstract

Bioremediation is the process by which the contaminants are degraded by microorganisms. It involves the growth of specific microbes that has the ability to digest the contaminants such as oil, solvent, pesticides, hydrocarbon, greenhouse gases, and radioactive materials. Radioactive contaminants are hazardous to living organisms and the environment, exposure to radiation causes mild to chronic diseases in humans and other organisms. Diseases such as cancer (lungs, thyroid, and skin), acute radiation syndrome, cardiac, reproductive, neurological, and various diseases have been reported in humans exposed to radiation. These microorganisms have the capability of decreasing the mobility of radioactive material by Precipitation or Crystallization. Also, these microbes increase the process of metal solubility and are also involved in chemical reactions like Oxidizing the metal ions or reduction of metal ions like Uranium reducing from U(VI) to U(IV) with the help of bacteria Desulfovibrio and Desulfuricans. Also, in the case of chromium, the metal reduces from Cr (VI) to Cr (III). Recent discoveries yield that, the microorganisms are engineered to accumulate a higher dose of radiation which will lead to radioactive resistance. This type of strain has the capability to convert the toxic, volatile metal species to less reactive and less toxic in nature. This methodology can be achieved by multiple remediation strategies with more genetic engineering clusters. Scientists have inferred that toluene and chlorobenzene metabolism with the help of engineered bacteria to remediate the multiple contaminants caused by the nuclear plants. In this review, we have discussed the overview of Radioactive contaminants and the effect of Bioremediating the radioactive contaminants using Microorganisms.