Introduction

to
Environmental
Biotechnology
 What is Contamination???????
The quality of life on Earth is inevitably
related to the overall quality of the
environment. As human activity has increased
around the globe, the Earth has been
contaminated with a large number of toxic
pollutants from multiple sources.

Contamination is the presence of a

constituent, impurity, or some other
undesirable element that spoils the natural
environment.

Environmental contamination is a pertinacious

problem and continues to be a burden to
human health.
 
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 Sources of Environmental Contamination

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 Point Source and Non-point Source Pollution
Depends upon source of origin
Point Source Pollution
• Source of pollution easily identified
• Originated from stationary point (e.g. smoke from industrial unit/oil spillage
from ships)

Non-Point Source Pollution

• Source cannot be tracked
• No specific outlet/single point of origin (heaps of trash, use of pesticides and
fertilizers)
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 Types of Pollution
Three major types of pollution include

1. Air pollution 2. Water pollution 3. Soil pollution

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 Air Pollution
Major Causes
• Burning
• Vehicle and factory emissions
• The burning of fossil fuels contributes to the formation of smog.
• A dense layer of particulate matter that hangs like a cloud over many major
cities and industrial zones.

Effect
 Respiratory problems such as asthma, lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and other
lung ailments.
 Nitrogen and sulfur oxides in the air contribute to acid rain, which is a form of
precipitation with a lower (more acidic) pH than normal.
 Acid rain harms forests, species that live in water bodies, and degrades outdoor statues, monuments, and buildings.

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 Water Pollution
• A major source of water pollution is runoff from agricultural fields,
industrial sites, or urban areas.

• Runoff disrupts the water body's natural balance. For example,

agricultural runoff typically includes fertilizer or toxic chemicals.
Fertilizer can cause algal blooms (an explosive growth of algae), choking
out other plants and decreasing the amount of available oxygen necessary
for the survival of other species.

• Raw sewage is another type of water pollutant. When sewage gets into the
drinking water supply, serious stomach and digestive issues may result,
including the spread of diseases such as typhoid or dysentery.

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 A third source of water pollution is
trash. Improperly disposed of items,
such as plastic bags, fishing line, and
other materials may accumulate in the
water and lead to the premature death of
animals that get tangled within the
garbage.

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 Soil Pollution
Soil pollution is defined as the build up in soils of persistent toxic compounds,
chemicals, salts, radioactive materials, or disease-causing agents, which have adverse
effects on plant growth and animal health.

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 Environnemental Biotechnology
Application of biotechnology for solving environmental problems, both in environment and man
made ecosystems (e.g. home aquariums, zoo ecosystems, botanical gardens)

This biotechnology deals with

 Decontamination of environmental components
 Production of chemical biosensors
 Pollution prevention
 Waste minimization

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 Applications
of
Environmental Biotechnology
 Applications of Environmental Biotechnology
Four major different types of applications are

• Bio-composting
• Bioenergy
• Bioremediation
• Biotransformation
• Biomarker

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 1. Bio-composting
Composting is the biological decomposition of organic
waste such as food or plant material by bacteria, fungi,
worms and other organisms under controlled aerobic
(occurring in the presence of oxygen) conditions.

• The end result of composting is an accumulation of

partially decayed organic matter called humus.

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 Basics of Composting
All composting requires three basic ingredients:
Browns - This includes materials such as dead leaves, branches, and
twigs.
Greens - This includes materials such as grass clippings, vegetable
waste, fruit scraps, and coffee grounds.
Water - Having the right amount of water, greens, and browns is
important for compost development.

• Your compost pile should have an equal amount of browns to greens.

You should also alternate layers of organic materials of different-sized
particles.

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 Process
Compost pile should be periodically mixed

Check the internal temperature

Turn over the mixture when it reaches 140°F

Cautions: The compost pile should be built in layers 3 - 4

inches deep. Composting still happens if the pile is not
turned, but the materials break down slowly.

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 Bioenergy
• Bioenergy refers to electricity and gas that is generated from
organic matter (biomass). This can be anything from  plants and
timber to agricultural and food waste and even sewage.
How biomass generates energy????

Dry, combustible feedstock (wood pellets) are burnt in boilers or

furnaces. This in turn boils water and creates steam, which drives a
turbine to generate electricity.

Biomass: Animal/plant material used for energy production

Feedstock: Biomass which is used as energy source
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 Bioremediation
A pollution control technology
that uses natural biological forms.
Bioremediation is a “treatment
that uses naturally occurring
organisms to break down
hazardous substances into less
toxic or non toxic substances.”

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 Biotransformation
• Biotransformation is a process by which organic
compounds are transformed from one form to another to
reduce the persistence and toxicity of the chemical
compounds.

• This process is aided by major range of microorganisms

and their products such as bacteria, fungi and enzymes.

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 Biomarkers
• Quantitative measures of changes in a biological
system with respect to its normal status in response to
pollutant exposure.

• In environmental biomonitoring, measurements of

biomarker responses in sensitive species can be used
as an early warning of alteration at population levels
with the objective of monitoring environmental quality
and assess changes in the environment.

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 Earthworm: Biomarkers
Certain toxic substances in soil affect the behaviour and physiology of
earthworms that can serve as biomonitoring tool for their systematic effect on
soil organisms and other higher organisms.

How?????
The presence of tetra ethyl lead (TEL) in gasoline and lead oxide has a
significant effect on behaviour and morphology of earthworms. Absorption
of TEL into the tissues of earthworms produced severe effects, rupture of the
cuticle, extrusion of coelomic fluid, and inflexible metameric segmentation.

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