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The rapid expansion and increasing sophistication of various industries in the past century has remarkably increased the amount and complexity of toxic waste effluents, which may be bioremediated by suitable plants & microbes, either natural occurring or tailor-made for the specific purpose. This technology is termed as bioremediation. Bioremediation is an eco- friendly, cost-effective and natural technology targeted to remove heavy metals, radionuclides, xenobiotic compounds, organic waste, pesticides etc. from contaminated sites or industrial discharges through biological means. Since this technology is used in in-situ conditions, it does not physically disturb the site unlike conventional methods i.e. chemical or mechanical methods. In this technology, higher plants or microbes are used alone or in combination for phytoextraction of heavy metals from metal contaminated sites. Through microbial interventions, either the metals are immobilized or mobilized through redox conversions at contaminated sites. If mobilized, metal accumulating plants are put in place to accumulate metals in their body. Thenafter, metal-loaded plants are harvested and incernated to reduce the volume of waste and then disposed off as hazardous materials or used for recovery of precious metals, if possible. In case of immobilization, metals are no longer available to be toxic to organisms.
E-Book Content
S.N. Singh • R.D. Tripathi Environmental Bioremediation Technologies
Shree N. Singh Rudra D. Tripathi (Eds.)
Environmental Bioremediation Technologies
With 58 Figures, 1 in colour
Editors
Dr. Shree N. Singh Deputy Director and Head Ecotoxicology & Bioremediation National Botanical Research Institute Lucknow 226001, (India)
Dr. Rudra D. Tripathi Scientist E-II & Group Leader Ecotoxicology & Bioremediation National Botanical Research Institute Lucknow 226001 India
ISBN 10 ISBN 13
3-540-34790-9 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York 978-3-540-34790-3 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York
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Foreword Environmental contamination from both natural and anthropogenic sources is, today, a major environmental concern due to pervasiveness and persistence of many toxicants. It is considered as an inevitable evil of our progress and modernization. To decontaminate the soils, sediments and waters, polluted by anthropogenic activities, the scientists and technologists have evolved different technologies over the years. Although we have to pay high cost for physical and chemical environmental technologies, but they are not eco-friendly and safe. Hence, it was deeply realized to develop viable technologies employing microbes an