Revista de biorremediación y biodegradación

Abstracto

Global Use of Bioremediation Technologies for Decontamination of Ecosystems

Chijioke O. Elekwachi, John Andresen  and Thomas Charlie Hodgman 

A global survey examining the use of bioremediation technologies for addressing environmental pollution problems has been carried out. There were respondents from all continents (except Antarctica), though North America was comparatively over-represented. Despite a high aspiration to apply bioremediation techniques, this was not borne out in current practice. Air pollution was the lowest priority. Otherwise, a clear association was seen between the per capita income of a region and the concerns, remediation techniques and research practice adopted. For example, contamination of groundwater had higher priority in developed countries/regions. Toxic metals and aromatic hydrocarbons were the most common concern, while alkyl halides were of greater concern in North temperate (comparatively economically developed) countries than elsewhere. Only 15-35% of respondents used online databases to guide the design of their experiments, and these were largely restricted to North America and Europe, three quarters of US respondents used modelling software compared with about a third elsewhere. Consequently, while the developed economies made higher use of low-cost in situ bioremediation technologies (e.g. Monitored Natural Attenuation), their developing counterparts appeared to focus on the more expensive, sometimes ex situ, technologies. Despite the significant investment in and widespread availability of online resources, their limited use emphasizes the need to explore avenues for improved training and the development of more user-friendly resources. In this regard, this survey has produced a bioremediation research wish list to guide such developments. The data from this survey may also contribute to policy-decision making worldwide.