Web alert bioremediation of oil spills an annotated selection of world wide web sites relevant to the topics in microbial biotechnology microbes cleaning up deepwater. Apr 16, 2012 this popular press article discusses the important topic of risk assessment regarding the use of chemical dispersants in oil spills. The application of oleophilic fertilizer is a useful bioremediation strategy. Bioremediation of oil spills an annotated selection of world wide web sites relevant to the topics in microbial biotechnology. In the gulf of mexico oil spill, there was a large difference in the surface and deep water temperatures. Summary bioremediation is a viable mechanism for treating soils contaminated with. Apr 16, 2012 this report by the american society for microbiology is organized in the form of frequently asked questions about oil spills, and it provides answers. Oil spillage is a common occurrence in oil rich countries.
Pdf as the demand for liquid petroleum increases, the need for reliable and efficient oil spill cleanup techniques is inevitable. You may remember the deepwater horizon oil spill that happened in 2010, where 3. Mar 14, 2019 bioremediation of oil spills mar 14, 2019 by admin in biotechnology an oil spill is a form of pollution that involves the release of petroleum into the biosphere especially the waterways such as oceans, posing a huge threat to marine life. Abstract bioremediation of marine oil spills in the long run, biodegradation is the eventual fate of oil spilled at sea that cannot be collected or burnt. Bioremediation strategies range from encouraging natural biodegradation processes biostimulation to supplementing the existing system with microorganisms able to degrade the contamination bioaugmentation and to monitoring and verifying natural processes natural. History of bioremediation 1972 first commercial application. Bioremediation of crude oil contaminated soil using. Bioremediation is one technique that may be useful to remove spilled oil under certain geographic and climatic. Oil spills have become serious problem in cold environments with ever increse in resource exploitation, transportation, storage and accidental lekage of oils bioremidation is a promising action for remidation it is effective and economic in removing oils with less undue environmental damages.
Oil spill pollution could also result from the sales, and uses of petroleum products, pipeline overflow, breakage, and storage tank spill 5,6. Field evaluations of marine oil spill bioremediation. Bioremediation has been shown to be a safe and effective way to reduce the effects of oil spills. Bioremediation is a viable mechanism for treating soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The success of seeding oil spills with microbial preparations is ambiguous. Bioremediation was used extensively to combat the devastating effects of the exxon valdez oil spill in 1989 and british petroleums deepwater horizon oil spill in 2010. The most notable oil spills at sea involve large tankers, such as exxon valdez, which spilled thousands of tones oil paine et al. Marine oil spills are very catastrophic events which pose a great threat on the affected environment.
Bioremediation of petroleum in the sea is limited by n and p availability. Bioremediation of oil spills society for applied microbiology. Bioremediation of exxon valdez oil spill about epa us epa. Bioremediation of oil spills this threeyear project assessed short term effects of commonly transported oils and in situ bioremediation on tropical australian mangrove and salt marsh habitats. Bioremediation of oil spills submitted by anchal garg environment science 2016 2. Guidelines for the bioremediation of oilcontaminated salt. Prince bioremediation is a potentially important option for dealing with marine oil spills. Oil degrading microorganisms are indigenous to the worlds oceans, but environmental constraints limit their activity and so a bioremediation strategy must be tailored to local conditions.
One successful example of applying bioremediation in largescale cleanup is the mumbai oil spill of 2010, when oilzapper. While an oil slick is floating, this can be done by spraying dispersants to encourage the oil to disperse. Over the course of the winter, although, no efforts were implemented to introduce or maintain aerobic conditions, analytical results indicated some bioremediation had taken place. Finally, the oil surface area is extremely important because growth of oil.
Hydrophobic nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers are the potential solution for the treatment of oil spills. However, there were species of psychrophilic bacteria present that were highly efficient in metabolizing hydrocarbons. The tragic exxon valdez oil spill in 1989, informed the united states of the lack of preparedness the oil industry and country had in such remediation situations. In the case of the exxon valdez spill, the largest and most thoroughly studied application of bioremediation, the application of fertilizer slow release or oleophilic. As the demand for liquid petroleum increases, the need for reliable and efficient oil spill cleanup techniques is inevitable. Oil degrading microorganisms are indigenous to the worlds oceans, but environmental constraints limit their activity and so a bioremediation strategy must. Bioremediation has been applied for the cleanup of major marine oil spills of refined petroleum products. There are physical, chemical, and biological alternatives. Oil spills require quick action so that they cause as little damage as possible. Solidphase bioremediation relatively easy to operate and maintain, requires more space, but, cleanups take more time than slurryphase bioremediation technology uses of bioremediation. Determining the extent of contamination with which we must deal as well as the effectiveness of cleanup methods is quite a challenge. Fortunately, unlike higher organisms that are adversely impacted by oil spills, microorganisms are able to. Oil buster xl absorbs oil, gasoline, diesel fuel and other hydrocarbons. Bioremediation is considered one of the most sustainable cleanup techniques but the potential has not been fully exploited in the field because it is too slow to meet the immediate demands of the environment.
The oil removal values in the oil saturated and diluted desert soil samples are presented in table 1. Even though this is an efficient process of waste management but bioremediation cannot destroy 100% contaminants. The exxon valdez spill, in particular, gave researchers a rare opportunity to evaluate the feasibility of using bioremediation as an oil spill countermeasure. Technical personnel who are responsible for designing and operating field bioremediation processes as well as consultants and equipment manufacturers will also find it useful. Microbial hydrocarbon degradationbioremediation of oil spills. These oil spills can cause severe damage to sea and shoreline organisms whitfield, 2003. Once hydrocarbons are absorbed it is collected and moved to open soil or a grassy area. Feb 02, 2017 bioremediation of marine oil spills useful process for removing marine oil pollutants. Nov 02, 2017 oil spills occur frequently throughout the world. Journal of bioremediation and biodegradation open access. Taking the shortcut of using enzymes directly could be the next great advance in bioremediation. Bioremediation of soils saturated with spilled crude oil. The microbes went to work with no human intervention, showing that intrinsic bioremediation can be effective for containing spills of petroleum products.
The physical properties of oil spills vary depending on the type of oil introduced into the ocean environment. The production and transportation of crude oil causes the incidents of oil spills. As the demand for liquid petroleum increases, the need for reliable and efficient oil spill cleanup techniques is keywords. Bioremediation spill response plan oil spill eater ii.
Manual removal of oil is a critical first step and when paired with bioremediation. A recently published article in environmental microbiology reveals that indigenous microbiota of. The devastating effects on marine life from the exxon valdez spill in alaska and the spills during the gulf war due to destruction of oil reservoirs are well documented. Moreover, the requirements for suc cessful seeding are more demanding than. Bioremediation is considered one of the most sustainable cleanup techniques but the potential has not been fully exploited.
This crude oil spills, alters the physicochemical properties of the soil 7, making it impossible for the soil to produce at. Pdf oil spills are probable accidents occurring mostly during transportation and processing of oil that can contaminate marine, soil, sediments. Bioremediation spill response plan august 1997 revised september 2012 submitted for adoption by arrt may 20 after a full scope of both laboratory and field testing, trials, demonstration, and a track record of successful cleanups of over 23,600 oil spills as of may 17th, 20, the. Hydrocarbondegrading bacteria are ubiquitous in the sea, including hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria that utilize hydrocarbons almost exclusively as carbon and energy. Some contend that dispersants should not be used, while others point to their ability to speed up natural oil biodegradation processes. In a letter to exxon, epa provided information that would support the use of bioremediation as a cleanup technique for the valdez oil spill. Bioremediation is defined as the act of adding or improving the availability of materials e. Bioremediation is the most important technology used in restoration of oil polluted environments by the use of natural microbial biodegradation activities 5. Bioremediation of marine oil spills iowa state university.
This is when petroleum degrading bacteria and archaea are able to mediate oil spills most efficiently. Bioremediation is any process that uses decomposers and green plants, or their enzymes, to improve the condition of contaminated environments. Bioslurping, using pumping to apply oxygen and water, thus separating and compiling soils to increase remediation of microbes. The bp deepwater horizon oil spill was more than an order of magnitude greater in total volume of oil than the exxon valdez spill. The devastating environmental impacts of the exxon valdez spill in 1989 and its media notoriety made it a frequent comparison to the bp deepwater horizon spill in the popular press in 2010, even though the nature of the two spills and the environments impacted were vastly different.
Oil degrading microorganisms are indigenous to the world oceans, but environmental constraints limit their activity and so a bioremediation strategy must. Bioremediation, contaminants, monitoring and saturation received 16 march 2011. Oil spills oil spills occur frequently throughout the world. The physical and chemical characteristics of the oil are also important determinants of bioremediation success. Bioremediation of oil spills using microorganism science. Heavy crude oils that contain large amounts of resin and asphaltene compounds are less amenable to bioremediation than are lightor mediumweight crude oils that are rich in aliphatic components. Phytoremediation, uses the mechanisms of plants to decrease efficacy of pollutants. The biological method is also known as bioremediation, which can be broken down into bioaugmentation and biostimulation. Cleans oil contaminated sites and postrefining oil residues oil spills into the aquatic and terrestrial environments are a not so uncommon occurrence. Aug 15, 2011 however, the exxon valdez and bp deepwater horizon oil spills were vastly different in terms of the volume of oil, the nature of the oil, and the environments impacted table table1. Sun oil pipeline spill in ambler, pennsylvania 1970s continuing bioremediation projects by richard raymond of sun oil mid1980s emphasis on bioengineering organisms for bioremediation.
Successful bioremediation of a major marine oil spill has been achieved based upon addition of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers. Role of microbes in oil spills remediation and degradation. This technology did not live up to its initial promise. With such a high consumption, oil spills are inevitable. Field work on the project was conducted at port curtis near gladstone in queensland.
However, oil spill bioremediation also suffers from another limiting factor, in the form of complex chemical nature of the oil, which results in varying susceptibility to microbial attack. Pdf bioremediation of marine oil spills researchgate. Bacteria can be used to clean up oil spills in the ocean through bioremediation. Bioremediation oil spills list of high impact articles. Hindu college, nagercoil, tamil nadu, india key words. Certain microorganisms eat toxic chemicals and pathogens, digesting them and eliminating through changing their composition into harmless gases like ethane and carbon dioxide. Oil spills are harmful for marine life photo credit noaa and georgia department of natural resources, ccby 2. Epa informed exxon on july 26 that it would support a proposal by the company to use bioremediation to aid in cleaning up the oil spilled from the exxon valdez in prince william sound. Bioremediation of marine oil spills matt radermacher abstract bioremediation of marine oil spills has become a very practical approach to oil spill cleanup efforts in recent years. Bacteria can easily digest contaminants like chlorinated pesticides or clean oil spills but microorganisms fail to destroy heavy metals like lead and cadmium. Bioremediation of oil spills using microorganism science of. Jul 24, 2016 bioremediation has been shown to be a safe and effective way to reduce the effects of oil spills. Bioremediation of oil spills on land handbook of oil spill science. This ota background paper evaluates the current state of knowledge and assesses the potential of bioremediation for responding to marine oil spills.
Oil spills have become serious problem in cold environments with ever icrese in resource exploitation,transportation,storage and accidental lekage of oils bioremidation is a promising action for remidation it is effective and economic in removing oils with less undue environmental damages. Guidelines for the bioremediation of marine shorelines and. Bioremediation as a tool for resiliency in oil spills abstract with an increase in boating, offshore drilling, and transportation of oil, coastal communities are in need of a plan to clean up waterways in the event of an offshore oil spill. Importance of bioremediation and its future prospects. Oil spill response methods booms and skimmers bioremediation by oil eating bacteria edvokit 956 1. Oil spill response methods booms and skimmers bioremediation by oileating bacteria edvokit 956 1. Bioremediation of petroleum oil contaminated soil and water. Bioremediation process types of bioremediation examples. The gulf of mexico has more natural seeps of oil then any marine area in north america.
Bioremediation of oil spills on land handbook of oil. Oil buster xl provides nutrients for indigenous microbes thereby dramatically enhancing the natural bioremediation process. The answers come from a panel of scientists convened by the asm. Due to the effectiveness and lower cost of bioremediation, two methods.
It involves utilizing naturally occurring microorganisms which are able to eat hydrocarbons and use them as an energy source. Weathering and environmental factors play large roles in the success of bioremediation. Bioremediation as a removal response action at opa sites. Introduction an oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity. Oil degrading microorganisms are indigenous to the world oceans, but environmental constraints limit their activity and so a bioremediation strategy must be tailored to local conditions.
Marine oil spill, spill prevention, response to spill, booms, skimmers, dispersants, insitu burning, bioremediation, aesthetic appeal, oil recovery. In the years following the spill, portions of the crude oil dissolved in the flowing ground water and moved 200 m from the original spill site. Petroleum biodegradation and oil spill bioremediation. Bioremediation of water areas due to oil spills alison hawkins abstract there are various methods that can be used to cleanup an oil spill on a waterway.
Bioremediation, marine oil spills, biodegradation, exxon valdez introduction bioremediation can be a costeffective technology see figure 1, that is often used to treat oil spills in all types of environmental media including soils, groundwater, and surface water both freshwater and marine. Biosparging, where air is pushed into soil to stimulate microbial bioremediation. Generally, the dark brown or black colour of oil may change to yellow, green or red color holakoo, 2001. This is due to the fact that oil typically consists of different quantities of. Interacting soil and pollutant chemicals truly account for the work that can be completed by these microorganisms. The bioremediation process is a biological process that stimulates helpful microbes to use harmful contaminants as their source of food and energy. Heavy crude oils that contain large amounts of resin and asphaltene compounds are less amenable to bioremediation than are lightor mediumweight crude oils that are rich in. In both oil spills, microorganisms were used to consume petroleum hydrocarbons and played a. Bioremediation of oil spills wackett 2012 microbial.
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