Chapter 20 - Bioremediation: an ecofriendly approach for the treatment of oil spills

Abstract

Industrialization has dramatically accelerated in recent decades, owing primarily to satisfy the needs of the existing population. In the early 19th century, after the discovery of oil as an alternative fuel, its production and refining in the subsequent years, chemical leaks have become the likely events that occur most often during the shipping and refining of oil having the potential to pollute marine, soil, sediments, and other ecosystems. Various physical and chemical remediation approaches have been used to treat emerging toxins over time; however, due to their high cost and inefficiency, emphasis has shifted toward the idea of bioremediation, in the search for better solutions. Being successfully used to treat the Exxon Valdez oil spill on March 24, 1989, bioremediation has proven to be a promising method for treating oil spills. In contrast to physicochemical approaches, bioremediation is a greener solution that is cost-effective and has a lower environmental impact. This approach involves applying natural or genetically modified microorganisms to a contaminated site and/or enriching the polluted habitat with nutrients, which is referred to as bioaugmentation and bio stimulation, respectively. Plants, microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, cyanobacteria, microalgae), and enzymes are examples of biologically supported processes. Future oil spill bioremediation science should concentrate on these novel facets of the technique, paving the way for bioremediation to be used in the real world to achieve promising contaminants degradation outcomes.