Molecules, Vol. 24, Pages 3400: Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contamination in Terrestrial Ecosystems —Fate and Microbial Responses

Molecules, Vol. 24, Pages 3400: Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contamination in Terrestrial Ecosystems—Fate and Microbial Responses Molecules doi: 10.3390/molecules24183400 Authors: Adam Truskewycz Taylor D. Gundry Leadin S. Khudur Adam Kolobaric Mohamed Taha Arturo Aburto-Medina Andrew S. Ball Esmaeil Shahsavari Petroleum hydrocarbons represent the most frequent environmental contaminant. The introduction of petroleum hydrocarbons into a pristine environment immediately changes the nature of that environment, resulting in reduced ecosystem functionality. Natural attenuation represents the single, most important biological process which removes petroleum hydrocarbons from the environment. It is a process where microorganisms present at the site degrade the organic contaminants without the input of external bioremediation enhancers (i.e., electron donors, electron acceptors, other microorganisms or nutrients). So successful is this natural attenuation process that in environmental biotechnology, bioremediation has developed steadily over the past 50 years based on this natural biodegradation process. Bioremediation is recognized as the most environmentally friendly remediation approach for the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from an environment as it does not require intensive chemical, mechanical, and costly interventions. However, it is under-utilized as a commercial remediation strategy due to incomplete hydrocarbon catabolism and lengthy remediation times ...
Source: Molecules - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research