Bioremediation
Subtitle: Principles and Applications (Biotechnology Research)
Contributors: Ronald L. Crawford (Editor); Don L. Crawford (Editor)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: January 28, 1997
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 412
ISBN-13: 9780521470414
Subjects: Biotechnology; Pollution control; Science/Mathematics; Waste Biodegradation; Technology; Science; Environmental Engineering & Technology; Life Sciences - Ecology - Recycling; Microbiology; Medical / Microbiology; Bioremediation
First sentence: The selection of microbiological processes for treating soils and groundwater contaminated with organic pollutants requires characterization of the waste, selection of an appropriate microorganism or consortium, and information about degradation pathway and rates.
Description: Increased industrial and agricultural activity this century has led to vast quantities of the earth's soil and groundwater resources becoming contaminated with hazardous chemicals. Bioremediation provides a technology based on the use of living organisms, usually bacteria and fungi, to remove pollutants from soil and water, preferably in situ. This approach, which is potentially more cost-effective than traditional techniques such as incineration of soils and carbon filtration of water, requires an understanding of how organisms transform chemicals, how they survive in polluted environments and how they should be employed in the field. This book examines these issues for many of the most serious and common environmental contaminants, resulting in a volume which presents the most recent position on the application of bioremediation to the cleanup of polluted soil and water.