THESIS ON BIOREMEDIATION OF SOIL POLLUTED BY HEAVY METALS USING

ORGANIC ACIDS

DHANASHREE BHARMAL
MSC PART 2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
 INTRODUCTION
 Bioremediation is the use of living microorganisms to degrade
environmental pollutants or to prevent pollution. In other words, it is a
technology for removing pollutants from the environment thus restoring the
original natural surroundings and preventing further pollution
 Modern bioremediation was developed by petroleum engineer, George M.
Robinson in the 1960s. He performed experiments with microbes placed in
glass jars that contained pollutants. He tried adding different types of bacteria
to the jars and realized that certain types worked to break the pollutant down
 Bioremediation is used to clean up oil spills or contaminated groundwater.
Bioremediation may be done "in situ"–at the site of the contamination–or "ex
situ"–away from the site.
IMPORTANCE
 Bioremediation helps clean up polluted environments, including soils, groundwater,
and marine environments. Such systems can include bacteria, fungi, algae, and plant
species. They are capable of metabolizing, immobilizing, or absorbing toxic
compounds from their environment. However, a major advantage of these systems is
that they are less harmful to the environment with minimum or no by-products.
Moreover, conventional physical and chemical treatments are expensive and
inefficient and cause more harm than good. Thus, by evaluating research undertaken
in bioremediation so far. More efficient and feasible bioreactors or products may be
designed. Furthermore, these systems could be capable of completely removing
pollutants from the environment. Also, it leads to useful compounds as by-products.
 On the other hand, naturally selected species have found specific importance in oil
 and plastic bioremediation fields, evident from the vast body of research from Exxon
Valdez and Deepwater Horizon oil spills. Furthermore, other equally important
examples include mitigating heavy metal pollution (soil, aquatic and marine systems)
as a result of industrialization, such as lead, chromium, mercury, and arsenic.
Similarly, unique cases of industrial pollution that require bioremediation assistance
include radioactive metal, Uranium, and also groups of recalcitrant by-products of
pharmaceutical and textile manufacturing industries.
AIM AND OBJECTIVE
 The goal of bioremediation is to at least reduce pollutant levels to undetectable,
nontoxic, or acceptable levels, that is, to within limits set by regulatory agencies or,
ideally, to completely mineralize organopollutants to carbon dioxide.
 Bioremediation uses micro-organisms to reduce pollution through the biological
degradation of pollutants into non-toxic substances. This can involve either aerobic
or anaerobic micro-organisms that often use this breakdown as an energy source.
ABSTRACT
 Weak organic acids and/or their salts were tested as sail washing or flushing agents for three-
or in-situ remediation Do fossils polluted by heavy metals. Three soils naturally contaminated
with heavy metals were used for the test. The threes us were characterized as a clay loam,
loam and sandy clay loam.Their organic matter, saturated hydraulic conduetivity ,cation
exchange capacity,Particle density and heavy metal contents were also characterized. The
different retention loam was contaminated with Cr orms of heavy metals in a3 soils were
studied by sequential extraction. The clay, Hg, Mn and Pb while the loam and sandy clay loam
were contaminated with Cd,Pb,Cu andZn. Weak organic acid sand/or their salts and chelating
agents(EDTA and DTPA) were used at different ph levels of concentration and leaching time
in batch experiments to establish optimum conditions for maximum removal of heavy metals
from the threes oüs.Citrate and tartarate were found to be quite effective in leaching heavy
metal storm these soils. The rate of leaching of heavy metals from soils with citrate,tartarate
and EDTA was modeled using two-reaction model at constant pH and temperature.
 Three contaminated soils of different textures were t1ushedin a column at optimum with a salt of weak
organic acids, namely, ciuate, tanarate, citrate+oxalateor a chelating agent such as EDTA and DTPA The
citrate and tartrate (ammonium salts) were found to be quite effective in removing heavy metals from the
three contaminated soils while leaching üttle macronutrients and improving the soils structure. An in-situ
soil remediation simulation also successfully tested using the sandy clay loam at large scale Evelin abut
(plastic container) using citrate as at lushing liquid. EDTA and DTPA were effective in removing the
heavy metals except for Hg, but these strong chelating agents extraded important quantities of
macronutrients from the soil. These chelating agents areas a known to pollute the soil by being adsorbed
on the soil particles
BIOREMEDIATION METHODS
ADVANTAGES
 Bioremediation helps clean up water sources, create healthier soil, and improve air
quality around the globe. But unlike excavation-based remediation processes, which
can be disruptive, bioremediation is less intrusive and can facilitate remediation of
environmental impacts without damaging delicate ecosystems.
 Bioremediation is an eco-friendly and sustainable approach that can destroy a
pollutant or convert harmful contaminants into harmless substances
 Bioremediation can help to reduce and remove the pollution we produce, to provide
clean water, air and healthy soils for future generations.
 Environmentally friendly and cost saving features are amongst the major advantages
of bioremediation compared to both chemical and physical methods of remediation
CONCLUSION
 Bioremediation is considered as a safe and sustainable technology as it relies on the
action of microorganisms for the removal of contaminants from the waste which can
be wastewater or soil.
 Bioremediation can help to reduce and remove the pollution we produce, to provide
clean water, air and healthy soils for future generations
 Bioremediation helps clean up polluted environments, including soils, groundwater,
and marine environments. Such systems can include bacteria, fungi, algae, and plant
species. They are capable of metabolizing, immobilizing, or absorbing toxic
compounds from their environment.
 Soils with low concentrations Of heavy metals are the hardest to remediate because The heavy metals are
prefer entially adsorbed by the sites of highest binding energies,Which require higher concentration Of
organic and belating compounds for remediation.
 3. Salts of weak organic acids (citrate and tartarate)were less disturbing for the remediation of soils
polluted by heavy metals because they enhanced soil aggregation and leached only small amounts of
macronutrients from the soil(SO°A» less compared to EDTA and DTPA).
 A cleanup criteria for Cd, Cu and Pb. EDTA is less proneta biodegradability and it is adsorbed during soil
cleaning,but may reduce the amounts of soil macronutrients available for plants.The organic acids or
their salts are also adsorbed.'the soil cleaning process,there by improving the structure of the soil and
enhancing the stable araggregates.
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