Bioremediation of organic pollutants: A sustainable green approach

Abstract

Human activities and natural processes release a large number of organic pollutants, such as hydrocarbons, halogenated compounds, solvents, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and chloroforms, in the environment. These hazardous organic pollutants are a threat to human beings, animals, and the environment. These contaminants provide major technical and economical challenges in their remediation through conventional physicochemical methods. Among so many available remediation methods, bioremediation is one of the most promising techniques for eliminating organic contaminants by using natural resources, such as fungi, bacteria, microbes, and plants. Bioremediation is an attractive alternative to other conventional remediation methods due to its low cost and environmentally friendly methods. It involves several techniques in a hierarchical relationship, including bioreacting, land farming, bioslurping, bioventing, biosparging, and phytoremediation. In this chapter, we discuss current bioremediation methods for the removal of organic contaminants and their advantages and limitations. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.