**Author details**

Naofumi Shiomi\*

Address all correspondence to: n-shiomi@mail.kobe-c.ac.jp

Department of Human Sciences, Kobe College, Hyogo, Japan

## **References**

bacteria can reach the level of a solar battery, a permanent operation in the BSIS using the

The pollution of soil and groundwater by the use of pesticides has become a serious condition all over the world. The soil pollution is not only present in huge areas, but also is repeated continuously, leading to permanent contamination, because the pesticide is used many times each year. Therefore, the conventional methods require high budgets, making their set-up and maintenance are impractical. The author proposed the use of a novel bioremediation method, namely BSIS. Using BSIS, degrading microorganisms can be self-immobilized at high density in the shallow layer with the help of a PGA polymer secreted by the *Bacillus* strain, and can rapidly degrade a pollutant *in situ*. The author applied the BSIS for acid rain and triazine herbicides by using model soil packed in a column. BSIS was effective to remediate soil acidified by the acid rain and polluted by the pesticide. Moreover, this BSIS has advantages in that it can be applied without any expensive apparatus and can operate easily and perma‐ nently. These results suggest that BSIS may be the best method for the bioremediation of soil pollution by pesticides, although further improvements in the microorganisms might be

Everyone can freely study and use our BSIS method without any restrictions by a patent. Therefore, the author expects that many researchers will recognize the advantages of BSIS, and by further improvements, it can applied for the pollution by pesticides, which is a serious

I am grateful to Drs. Shigeo Katoh, Tomohisa Katsuda and Takako Yasuda. The study on BSIS was cooperatively performed with them, when they were a Professor, Assistant Professor and doctoral student, respectively, at Kobe University. I also thank the graduate students in Prof. Katoh's laboratory at Kobe University and the students in my laboratory at Kobe College. The research was supported by grants-in-aids from the Central Laboratory and the School of

battery may be possible, further minimizing the cost of operation.

necessary for the practical application of the technique.

Address all correspondence to: n-shiomi@mail.kobe-c.ac.jp

Department of Human Sciences, Kobe College, Hyogo, Japan

**4. Conclusion**

300 Applied Bioremediation - Active and Passive Approaches

worldwide problem.

**Author details**

Naofumi Shiomi\*

**Acknowledgements**

Human Sciences at Kobe College.


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**Chapter 13**

**Persistence and Bioaccumulation of Persistent Organic**

Some organic pesticides are the most widespread POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) used in agriculture worldwide. Other POPs such as volatilized industrial pollutants as well as pollutants from fuel combustion can also contaminate large areas due to dispersion by wind and rainfall. Non biodegradable molecules persist in the environment and the soil serves as a large sink for them. These pollutants are able to move in the environment and in low concen‐ trations over a long period of time, but through bioaccumulation they can have hazardous effects on the biota of the region. This article focuses mainly on pesticides and some other POPs that contaminate large areas. The chemical characteristics of persistent molecules that are resistant to biodegradation will be discussed in the context of the environmental conditions

Adsorption or not of a molecule in the soil is a key step to define bioavailability. The concept of "preferential partition" helps us understand the competitive mechanisms between the soil and biosphere. Bioaccumulation occur when concentrations in the biosphere are much higher than those found in the surrounding environment. The uptake of persistent molecules to levels of high concentrations can have hazardous effects on flora and, through the food chain, on

Xenobiotics not adsorbed by the soil can become mobile and when the molecule is persistent it may be dispersed by water or air through the biosphere, polluting large geographical areas and affecting the biodiversity of the flora and fauna. A brief overview of this dispersion will be necessary to show how recalcitrant molecules in the environment make remediation inefficient. The application of pesticides over large areas can only be sustainable if their molecules biodegrade naturally. Remediation can be applied usefully to accidents in restricted areas but it is not feasible over large areas due to the high costs. The only efficient policy for

> © 2013 Langenbach; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**Pollutants (POPs)**

Tomaz Langenbach

**1. Introduction**

that enhance persistence.

fauna and human health.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/56418

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

