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Project

Chemistry and the Environment Division (VI)

 

Number: 1999-013-2-600

Title: Soil and water bio-remediation: in-situ treatment of polluted soil and water with emphasis on the use of genetically engineered microorganisms

Task Group
Chairman:
R. Mandelbaum

Members:
W. Kordel, R.J. Wright, W.J.M. Peijnenburg, Y. Shevah, U. Mingelgrin, and S. Koeningsberg

Completion Date: 2003 - project abandoned

Objective:
To prepare a critical review and the state-of-the-art of the removal of hazardous chemical contaminants from the liquid, solid and gas phases using biological processes, including bioremediation of leachates, soils and sediments. Emphasis will be given to novel application of genetically engineered microorganisms for bioremediation.

The issue of gene transfer in the environment and the relevance of genetically engineered microbes to environmental risk assessment will be evaluated, together with the related complexity that they add to the overall remediation process. Lack of knowledge regarding microbial community interactions with the ecology and the potential for adverse ecological and human health effects is a significant environmental concern.

Description:
Bioremediation is considered a potentially advantageous technique for the treatment of hazardous wastes and is considered as a primary or ancillary cleanup technology, employing state of the art solutions. A state-of-the-art description of advances in pollution treatment and reduction using biological means was given by Sikdar and Irvine 1998, describing new development at the regulatory and the removal of contaminants from the liquid, solid and gas phase and all media - air, water and soil/sediment. Cleaning of contaminated sites are the subject of in situ and ex situ treatment as discussed by Porta (1991) and Science (1992), while soil and groundwater are the media most frequently treated with bioremediation technology (Shevah and Waldman, 1995).

Remediation technologies include advanced remediation technologies using nutrient and micro organisms addition to simulate biomass and combination of techniques are being evaluated including:

  • re-introduction of enhanced environmental isolates acclimated to target chemicals
  • stimulation of degradation by addition of surfactants detergents to increase bio-availability of chemicals
  • adaptation of aerobic micro organisms to low oxygen environments

Of the above techniques, the application of genetically engineered microorganisms for bioremediation construct the potential of indigenous species with previously unavailable genes, acquiring new expression potential, as extensively discussed by Miller and Levy (1989). However, as with any technological tools, the unintended consequences of the application of this technology are not clear. The possible adverse effects of bioremediation to ecological systems are difficult to assess regardless of whether the potential impacts are due to the engineered remediation application, because the local ecology of the selected site has already been adversely altered by the acute or chronic contamination (Reisman, Claxton and Harvey, 1998).

Human health risks from bioremediation are also becoming better defined and risks from microorganisms used for bioremediation or from metabolites produced from bioremediation of waste chemicals include direct health effects such as toxicity, infectivity, pathogenenicity and allergenicity and indirect effects such as cyto-toxicity and carcinogenecity. Microbes could also pose a threat as vectors for foreign genes.

In the proposed review, the application of genetically engineered microorganisms will be critically reviewed with regards to the following:

  • organism stability, persistence and mobility
  • potential to grow in population size
  • effects within the soil microbial community
  • chemical degradation, transformation and clean-up effects on the ecosystem

Progress:
project abandoned

Last Update: 2 July 2004

<project announcement published in Chem. Int. 22(6) 2000>

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