Recent Applications of Bioremediation and Its Impact

*Amara Dar and Arooj Naseer*

### **Abstract**

Socioeconomic concerns have increased the technology dependence to facilitate the increasing population on the earth. Number of anthropogenic sources are responsible for contaminating the natural environment. Effluents from industries contain many toxicants that cause lethal effects on human and animal life on earth. Many techniques are used so far for the abatement of such pollutants from the environment. As "nature heals itself" so dealing with such problems with bioremediation utilizing the invisible workers (microorganisms), plants and enzymes can help minimize and get rid of such pollutants. It is a greener way to conserve the environment and get rid of such awful substances. Bioremediation can help to get rid of contaminants either by in situ or ex situ approach. By using both ways, either ex situ or in situ, the decontamination of the environment can be successfully done. Using various plant materials and microorganisms by tailoring the surrounding environment to make it suitable for rectifying the contaminant issue is the main goal of bioremediation.

**Keywords:** bioremediation, microorganisms, enzymes, plants, sustainable development

### **1. Introduction**

Bioremediation is a process of converting harmful substances to environmentally safe substances by the action of the invisible workforce. This invisible workforce is the number of microorganisms working in sequence to degrade environmentally toxic substances. Bioremediation works with detoxification and eradication of chemically diverse and physically hazardous materials that cause a threat to the natural existence of the environmental setup.

Ecologically discussing bioremediation refers to the interaction between three factors; Contaminant, invisible workforce, and environment, as shown in **Figure 1**. Interaction of these factors in turn ensures the mobility of contaminant in the environment, the presence of suitable conditions to degrade the contaminant, and eradication or degradation of the contaminant by converting it into an environmentally friendly substance. Mobility or bioavailability of any contaminant is about the ease with which the contaminant is available to microorganisms. The microorganisms need a suitable set of conditions (like; as availability of electron acceptors, pH, and availability of nutrients) to function well and convert the environmentally harmful substances to environmentally benign substances. The biodegradability of the contaminant depends

#### **Figure 1.**

*Ecological interpretation of factors governing bioremediation [1].*

upon the presence of suitable microorganisms to eradicate that contaminant under the required conditions [2].

Eradication of contaminants depends primarily on the nature of the contaminant, which may include pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, sewage, plastics, etc. nature of the contaminant, degree of contamination, environmental factors, contaminated sites, cheap policies for conserving environment are important selection study criteria that are considered while choosing any bioremediation technique [3, 4]. Although it is important to properly plan the selection criteria but other factors that involve the aerobic and anaerobic nature of the area under study, pH, and moisture content are equally important to be considered. Bioremediation strategies make it possible to increase the efficacy of the contaminant removal process. These strategies may be ex situ or in situ. Mostly, the bioremediation techniques work for the removal of hydrocarbon contaminating species from soil or water [5–8]. Various other cost-effective techniques can be efficiently applied to the contamination sites for the removal of hydrocarbons [9].
