Bioremediation and Oil Spills

Bioremediation is a process currently used to clean up the environment. Although no one is specifically accredited with being the first to have discovered the early forms or modern forms of bioremediation, the present use and early uses of bioremediation are very exciting to explore.

The process of cleaning up environmental sites contaminated with chemical pollutants by using living organisms to degrade hazardous materials into less toxic substances (Thiemann, 2004) is the meaning of bioremediation. Since the beginning of time bioremediation has been used to make things safer for humans as well as animals. The earliest known form would have to be sewage treatment. Much like the way bioremediation is used today to eliminate harmful chemicals from the environment; the earliest form of this was removing sewage (which is harmful). During the 18th century in Rhode Island, it was believed that disposing of waste into local rivers would dilute the waste. So, the people of Rhode Island would dispose of any and all waste (from outhouses and wash tubs) in local rivers. Today, there are advancements in the way harmful chemicals are disposed of. Such as, waste treatment plants across the United States. Which collect and treat the waste to decontaminate and dispose of it.

Many people made contributions to bioremediation but one who is known for his amazing contribution is Ananda Chakrabarty. In the 1970s, Ananda and his colleagues at General Electric discovered a strain of bacteria that is able to degrade some components in crude oil. He obtained this strain by isolating a Pseudomonas from a soil filled with

pesticides and crude oil. Ananda was awarded the first U.S patent for a living organism that had been genetically altered. This strain is a very useful tool that is still used in bioremediation today.

The biotechnology of the past studied bioremediation before it was known what it was. They studied it in hopes that it would better the environment. By eliminating some of the most harmful chemicals from the environment, the world can be a cleaner place. Realizing that chemical spills do happen, bioremediation is a process that will be there to clean up after these spills.

There are so many aspects of bioremediation. Including government support of bioremediation, whether or not the future will hold new things in bioremediation, if bioremediation will become a way to get away with disposing chemicals illegally.

How important cleaning up hazardous waste was to the U.S government, was one of the issues addressed not long ago. The Superfund Program was established in 1980 by congress. In response to the carelessness of company’s who dump chemicals improperly. Another program was established called the Environmental Genome Project. This program was created to study the affects of environmental chemicals on human diseases. When considering the amount of general careless pollution, these programs have always been in need. It was a dream of the EPA to see that the government did support the research.

It is very important to understand the facts of bioremediation. Especially, when performing bioremediation some basic things should be understood. Bioremediation is

also known as enhanced microbial treatment. There are two types of bioremediation research natural and accelerated. Natural is the on site treatment of an affected

environment. Accelerated is usually done when research is needed for quick treatment. So the accelerated research is done in a lab.

In bioremediation there is a contaminated environment. This environment includes microorganisms that work to kill things that attack it. Such as oil for example, when there is a large amount of contamination some of the microorganisms die. Bioremediation is what scientists use to help re-populated the supply of microorganisms. As well as keep the microorganisms that are still living alive. These microorganisms can destroy the thing that it is attacking, like oil. Bacteria may be used to help keep these microorganisms alive. It is a slow process that the microorganisms work through because rebuilding the population and destroying the oil (or contaminant) takes a while. The location and the amount of contamination could cause the process to take years. Another way that scientists may go about bioremediation is, by adding microorganisms to the contaminated area. This can allow the process to move more quickly.