How Can Microbial Communities Contribute to Environmental Bioremediation Strategies?

Abstract

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) increase the risk of harmful health effects to humans, including cancer, reproductive disorders, and birth defects, through contamination and bioaccumulation in the food chain. POPs like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dioxins were commonly used or unintentionally made as a byproduct of pesticide and herbicide production. Due to their high solubility in lipids and water, these substances pose a greater risk of contaminating the food chain. POPs provide long-term sources of biotoxicity once they poison an ecosystem, causing detrimental effects for decades or even centuries. Addressing the remediation of environments contaminated with POPs is crucial for mitigating the long-term impacts on ecosystems and human well-being. Strategies for bioremediation, especially those involving composting and biostimulation, show promise in addressing the problem of POP contamination. By using microorganisms to convert contaminants into nutrients, organic debris is carefully broken down during the composting process. Boosting microbial activity in contaminated environments, known as biostimulation, on the other hand, seeks to encourage the organic breakdown of contaminants. To remove POPs from contaminated environments, this paper compares the performance and cost-effectiveness of bioremediation techniques, primarily composting and biostimulation. Through evaluation of the performance of these methods, this paper hopes to offer insights into the possible uses of microbial communities. This paper will account for factors such as resources used, time efficiency, and overall degradation of pollutants.