Use of immobilized biomass as low-cost technology for bioremediation of PAHs contaminated sites

Abstract

Organic compounds have been produced for industrial applications for decades and they are some of the widest spread and most persistent pollutants found in air, water, and sediments. Those so-called persistent organic pollutants (POPs) include to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) comprising several of the most prioritized compounds on the US EPAs lists because of its detrimental biological effects, including toxicity, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity. Its remediation is a priority. A wide diversity of bacteria has been isolated from soils and sediments with the ability to use PAHs as their sole carbon and energy source. The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the strategies for bioremediation of PAHs by immobilized biomass and biotransformation that have been applied based on the benefits from the biofilm mode of growth. In the following sections, general concepts about some microbial immobilization processes will be explained. In later sections, different case studies concerning microbial immobilization systems used for hydrocarbon decontamination in waters and soils will be reviewed.