Bioremediation for Environmental Pollutants

Environmental pollution has become a serious issue of concern across the world. Intensive agriculture, industrialization, and consumerism have resulted in the degradation of environmental quality. The presence of pollutants like fertilizers, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants (PoPs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals, synthetic dyes, etc. have not only polluted soil, air, and water but also invaded the food-chain via bioaccumulation and biomagnification, and have emerged as potential threats to various organisms including humans. Several organisms, including plants, animals, and microbes, indicate the presence of contaminants and environmental pollution. Among these, microbes have emerged as one of the potential indicators of environmental pollution, as they are more sensitive to trace levels of pollutants than plants/ animals/other organisms. The natural abundance of these indicator microbes has given us an opportunity to monitor environmental pollution before any major undesirable accidents occur. Based on these microbial indicators, various easy and rapid biosensors have been developed to monitor environmental pollution. Microbial indicators are the treasures of nature that have immense potential to monitor and predict environmental quality for society's safe and sustainable development.

Environmental pollution has become a serious issue of concern across the world. Intensive agriculture, industrialization, and consumerism have resulted in the degradation of environmental quality. The presence of pollutants like fertilizers, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants (PoPs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals, synthetic dyes, etc. have not only polluted soil, air, and water but also invaded the food-chain via bioaccumulation and biomagnification, and have emerged as potential threats to various organisms including humans. Several organisms, including plants, animals, and microbes, indicate the presence of contaminants and environmental pollution. Among these, microbes have emerged as one of the potential indicators of environmental pollution, as they are more sensitive to trace levels of pollutants than plants/ animals/other organisms. The natural abundance of these indicator microbes has given us an opportunity to monitor environmental pollution before any major undesirable accidents occur. Based on these microbial indicators, various easy and rapid biosensors have been developed to monitor environmental pollution. Microbial indicators are the treasures of nature that have immense potential to monitor and predict environmental quality for society's safe and sustainable development. 

Environmental pollution management through conventional methods in the wake of new, recalcitrant, and increasing pollutant loads are no longer adequate or sustainable. Bioaugmentation for pollutant removal is an environmental (water and soil) decontamination approach alternative to the popular and traditional physicochemical methods. Despite bioaugmentation’s attractiveness based on being greener than the traditional methods, there are still several bottlenecks towards operating some bioaugmented processes optimally. Most bioaugmentation problems arise during upscaling successful lab-scale trials to industrial operations. In most cases, the bioaugmented micro-organisms survive for just a short span of time before their populations decrease prior to completion of the pollutant removal task. Research on various aspects meant to address this and other bioaugmentation challenges has been partly successful and such efforts are still ongoing. As part of evaluating and optimising bioaugmentation processes, sustainability concepts should always be considered at every stage of these activities. The application of bioaugmentation techniques is also gaining popularity in other industries, such as biogas production. 

Environmental pollution management through conventional methods in the wake of new, recalcitrant, and increasing pollutant loads are no longer adequate or sustainable. Bioaugmentation for pollutant removal is an environmental (water and soil) decontamination approach alternative to the popular and traditional physicochemical methods. Despite bioaugmentation’s attractiveness based on being greener than the traditional methods, there are still several bottlenecks towards operating some bioaugmented processes optimally. Most bioaugmentation problems arise during upscaling successful lab-scale trials to industrial operations. In most cases, the bioaugmented micro-organisms survive for just a short span of time before their populations decrease prior to completion of the pollutant removal task. Research on various aspects meant to address this and other bioaugmentation challenges has been partly successful and such efforts are still ongoing. As part of evaluating and optimising bioaugmentation processes, sustainability concepts should always be considered at every stage of these activities. The application of bioaugmentation techniques is also gaining popularity in other industries, such as biogas production.
 

The applications of biotechnology, especially genetic modification, are varied and concern multiple fields, as they can provide appropriate and radical solutions to many problems of agriculture, the environment, and human and animal health. The promoters of these technologies present them as the best and only solution to the problems of famine in the world in the twenty-first century, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries. The astonishing development of crops in developed countries is mainly due to the introduction of massive genetic improvement programs with intensive agricultural systems (irrigation, fertilizers, health care) until the matter in these countries reach genetically modified products. In this chapter, we will present the importance of the techniques of genetic mutation of micro-organisms and the negative effects of genetically modified species and products for experts, decision-makers, and decision-makers to protect human, animal, and plant health. We will also shed light on the future of these genetically modified organism - based treatments.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one-third of the food produced globally for human consumption is lost within the food supply chain. In many countries, food and agricultural wastes are dumped in landfills. Plastic wastes from agriculture have become a major concern, especially with increasing pollution associated with the microplastics and nanoplastics in the ocean and marine ecosystem. Microbial biodegradation of the agricultural wastes and the conversion into valueadded products could meet the economic and environmental demands to reduce land pollution, whilst benefiting from the generated products. Furthermore, energy together with other combustible municipal wastes can be recovered. Food wastes have attracted much interest for conversion into bioenergy such as biogas, hydrogen, ethanol, and biodiesel, and the residues are further used as animal feed or fertilizer. This review highlights the use of plastics in agriculture, their disposal, and degradation. Factors affecting biodegradation are also discussed. The production of bioenergy from agrowaste and food waste is elaborated.

Bioremediation is critical in eliminating and controlling environmental contaminants in the ecosystem. This is crucial in the food industry where pollutants are vast. The industry is moving towards novel sustainable food safety strategies and techniques. Also, the nature-based solution should be at the forefront of innovations in the food industry. This paper focuses on the application of bioremediation techniques on chemical environmental contaminants and how the pollutants enter the food production chain. Moreover, the impact of pollutants and the food safety risks on humans and agricultural land are discussed. 

A growing population implies an increasing demand for food. Consequently, the processing industry related to it generates large amounts of waste. This problem arose due to the delayed development in establishing effective and advanced waste management technologies, which must be developed and used to lower the cost of producing processed foods and minimizing pollution risks. Recent studies on the valorization of residues in the food chain have focused on obtaining value-added products such as biofuels, enzymes, bioactive compounds, biodegradable plastics, and nanoparticles. Regulatory agencies and the food processing industries can work together to develop new waste management and use processes that are commercially viable. This chapter presents an introduction to bioremediation and management of various residues from the food industries (beverages, dairy, fruit, vegetables, oil and meat), as well as some characteristics, advantages, and limitations of some methods. New possibilities for using food waste are also described. 

Distillery industries generate a considerable amount of wastewater, having a high percentage of inorganic matter and organic compounds. Wastewater generated from distillery industries is dark brown in colour. Untreated wastewater from distillery industries have an adverse impact on the sustainability of the environment due to its high pollutant concentration. Hence, distillery industry effluent requires urgent attention for the minimization of toxic waste generation. Several technologies used in the elimination of pollutants from wastewater include physico-chemical and bioremediation techniques. Bioremediation technique is a simple, economical, and the most potential technique. Among bioremediation methods, anaerobic, aerobic, and various kinds of phytoremediation processes have been discussed here. Further, the removal of contaminants by bacteria, fungi, and algae has also been mentioned. A large amount of sludge generation by the anaerobic process also needs attention and proper management. It also outlines the mechanism of the decolourization of melanoidin by microorganisms. The role of different bioreactors in bioremediation technique has also been discussed in detail. Keeping in view the applicability of different bioremediation techniques discussed here for removal of melanoidin high biological oxygen demand (BOD), high chemical oxygen demand (COD), a heavy concentration of suspended solids, polysaccharide, lignin, protein and waxes, it is expected that this technique can be useful for further treatment in a variety of wastewater from distillery industries

Antibiotics are defined as medicines used for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections. They act as growth inhibitors or destroy the bacteria by destructing the bacterial cell wall or inhibiting energy generation from glucose within the cell. When bacteria adapt to resistance or develop the ability to resist the factors & survive after being exposed to antibiotics, they become resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance occurs due to several changes (physical, chemical, environmental) or undergoing mutation in bacterial DNA. There are many ways through which antibiotics may reach groundwater. The increased use of antibiotics leads them to transfer from one place to another. They can be transferred from hospitals to humans and from human waste to groundwater. Agriculture practices, poultry farming, and industrial techniques also allow antibiotics to reach groundwater, which further affects aquatic lives and also causes antibiotic resistance in bacteria. 

Industrial production of pharmaceutical products is rising simultaneously with the increase in the world population and urbanization. They are vital in the treatment, prevention and control of diseases. Although pharmaceutical products play a pivotal role worldwide, their disposal and subsequent toxic metabolites are causing havoc in the environment. Accumulation of these hazardous pollutants in the environment increases the chances of reaching and affecting communities. The potential toxicity of these compounds includes the ability to be mutagens, carcinogens and genotoxins. Remediation methods currently available to rejuvenate nature from such wastes are generally expensive and may convert one toxin to another. Therefore, the use of microorganisms for the bioremediation of pharmaceutical and toxic waste has become an economical and effective alternative. Bioremediation techniques further detoxify the waste into useful or harmless products that can be beneficial to the ecosystem

Antibiotics are in high demand across the world in a variety of industries . The use of antibiotics has become a global threat, being called an emerging pollutant. Thus, they are incorrectly disposed of in wastewater and their bioremediation becomes indispensable. In this context, the objective of this chapter is to explore the bioremediation of antibiotics. First, information was provided on the sources of antibiotics in wastewater and their possible impacts on the environment and humans. Then, the antibiotic removal process performed by microorganisms and microalgaebased processes was discussed, showing the factors that interfere with their performance in the removal of antibiotics. Finally, future prospects for fostering development in this area were analyzed.

Sodium polyacrylate is widely used in many fields, including agriculture, sanitary products, drug delivery, wastewater treatment plants, etc. Since polyacrylamides (PAM) are produced and used in bulk quantities, they have higher rates of mobility in the environment when polymers are degraded. They can create potential challenges for water supplies as well as wastewater treatment plants, and hence their disposal and degradation in nature is a significant issue. Various modes of degradation include mechanical, chemical, photolytic, and biological methods. In the biological model, microorganisms are used, either aerobic or anaerobic. Both bacteria and fungi seem to contribute to this cause; however, the enzymology and detailed pathway of their degradation steps are still being researched, and various hypotheses are available. Although enzyme amydases are found to be involved, there are speculations about the role of other enzymes as well. Various methods, including fenton oxidation, low glucose exposure, zinc oxide, and UV irradiation, are tried to enhance the biodegradation of polyacrylamide and polyacrylates. In this book chapter, we have included our own preliminary study results in this area. Further studies are required to fully elucidate the mechanisms and create a suitable consortium of microorganisms.