Oil spillage is a common occurrence in oil rich countries. 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. This is due to the fact that oil typically consists of different quantities of. There are physical, chemical, and biological alternatives. Oil degrading microorganisms are indigenous to the worlds oceans, but environmental constraints limit their activity and so a bioremediation strategy must. Bioremediation of oil spills wackett 2012 microbial. The physical and chemical characteristics of the oil are also important determinants of bioremediation success.
Bioremediation of exxon valdez oil spill about epa us epa. 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. 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. Bioslurping, using pumping to apply oxygen and water, thus separating and compiling soils to increase remediation of microbes. In both oil spills, microorganisms were used to consume petroleum hydrocarbons and played a. The gulf of mexico has more natural seeps of oil then any marine area in north america. Bioremediation oil spills list of high impact articles. Hydrophobic nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers are the potential solution for the treatment of oil spills. Some contend that dispersants should not be used, while others point to their ability to speed up natural oil biodegradation processes. 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. Specific bacteria can be used to bioremediate specific contaminants, such as hydrocarbons, which are present in oil and gasoline. Bioremediation has been applied for the cleanup of major marine oil spills of refined petroleum products. Oil spills are harmful for marine life photo credit noaa and georgia department of natural resources, ccby 2.
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. Journal of bioremediation and biodegradation open access. Guidelines for the bioremediation of marine shorelines and. Feb 02, 2017 bioremediation of marine oil spills useful process for removing marine oil pollutants. Guidelines for the bioremediation of oilcontaminated salt. 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. The bp deepwater horizon oil spill was more than an order of magnitude greater in total volume of oil than the exxon valdez spill. Biodegradation of oil and bioremediation of oil spills sciencedirect. Pdf bioremediation of marine oil spills researchgate. 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. It involves utilizing naturally occurring microorganisms which are able to eat hydrocarbons and use them as an energy source. 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. You may remember the deepwater horizon oil spill that happened in 2010, where 3.
The exxon valdez spill, in particular, gave researchers a rare opportunity to evaluate the feasibility of using bioremediation as an oil spill countermeasure. 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. Bioremediation of oil spills using microorganism science of. Successful bioremediation of a major marine oil spill has been achieved based upon addition of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers.
Determining the extent of contamination with which we must deal as well as the effectiveness of cleanup methods is quite a challenge. 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. Role of microbes in oil spills remediation and degradation. 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. This is when petroleum degrading bacteria and archaea are able to mediate oil spills most efficiently. Cleans oil contaminated sites and postrefining oil residues oil spills into the aquatic and terrestrial environments are a not so uncommon occurrence. Moreover, the requirements for suc cessful seeding are more demanding than. Oil spill pollution could also result from the sales, and uses of petroleum products, pipeline overflow, breakage, and storage tank spill 5,6. Bioremediation, contaminants, monitoring and saturation received 16 march 2011. Marine oil spills are very catastrophic events which pose a great threat on the affected environment.
Taking the shortcut of using enzymes directly could be the next great advance in bioremediation. The bioremediation process is a biological process that stimulates helpful microbes to use harmful contaminants as their source of food and energy. Microbial hydrocarbon degradationbioremediation of oil spills. Bioremediation is the most important technology used in restoration of oil polluted environments by the use of natural microbial biodegradation activities 5. History of bioremediation 1972 first commercial application.
Sun oil pipeline spill in ambler, pennsylvania 1970s continuing bioremediation projects by richard raymond of sun oil mid1980s emphasis on bioengineering organisms for bioremediation. Bioremediation as a tool for resiliency in oil spills. 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. 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. This crude oil spills, alters the physicochemical properties of the soil 7, making it impossible for the soil to produce at. Bioremediation of marine oil spills iowa state university. Bioremediation is defined as the act of adding or improving the availability of materials e. Petroleum biodegradation and oil spill bioremediation. Bioremediation is any process that uses decomposers and green plants, or their enzymes, to improve the condition of contaminated environments. 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. In a letter to exxon, epa provided information that would support the use of bioremediation as a cleanup technique for the valdez oil spill. 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. With such a high consumption, oil spills are inevitable. 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.
Seeding with oil degraders has not been demonstrated to be effective, but addition of nitrogenous fertilizers has been shown to increase rates of petroleum biodegradation. Marine oil spill, spill prevention, response to spill, booms, skimmers, dispersants, insitu burning, bioremediation, aesthetic appeal, oil recovery. Pdf oil spills are probable accidents occurring mostly during transportation and processing of oil that can contaminate marine, soil, sediments. Bioremediation is one technique that may be useful to remove spilled oil under certain geographic and climatic. Generally, the dark brown or black colour of oil may change to yellow, green or red color holakoo, 2001.
Interacting soil and pollutant chemicals truly account for the work that can be completed by these microorganisms. The contamination cleanup strategy called bioremediation using naturally occurring or genetically modified microbes to clean up our messesis gaining steam, as scientists devise new ways to. A recently published article in environmental microbiology reveals that indigenous microbiota of. Bioremediation has been shown to be a safe and effective way to reduce the effects of oil spills. 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. Nov 02, 2017 oil spills occur frequently throughout the world. 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.
Bioremediation oil spills share this page 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. Certain microorganisms eat toxic chemicals and pathogens, digesting them and eliminating through changing their composition into harmless gases like ethane and carbon dioxide. The success of seeding oil spills with microbial preparations is ambiguous. Oil spills oil spills occur frequently throughout the world.
Technical personnel who are responsible for designing and operating field bioremediation processes as well as consultants and equipment manufacturers will also find it useful. However, there were species of psychrophilic bacteria present that were highly efficient in metabolizing hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbondegrading bacteria are ubiquitous in the sea, including hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria that utilize hydrocarbons almost exclusively as carbon and energy. Finally, the oil surface area is extremely important because growth of oil. Fortunately, unlike higher organisms that are adversely impacted by oil spills, microorganisms are able to. Bioremediation of petroleum oil contaminated soil and water. Solidphase bioremediation relatively easy to operate and maintain, requires more space, but, cleanups take more time than slurryphase bioremediation technology uses of bioremediation. Bioremediation of oil spills on land handbook of oil spill science. Oil buster xl provides nutrients for indigenous microbes thereby dramatically enhancing the natural bioremediation process.
Bioremediation spill response plan oil spill eater ii. The production and transportation of crude oil causes the incidents of oil spills. Field evaluations of marine oil spill bioremediation. Apr 16, 2012 this popular press article discusses the important topic of risk assessment regarding the use of chemical dispersants in oil spills. The microbes went to work with no human intervention, showing that intrinsic bioremediation can be effective for containing spills of petroleum products. Phytoremediation, uses the mechanisms of plants to decrease efficacy of pollutants. Oil spill response methods booms and skimmers bioremediation by oileating bacteria edvokit 956 1. Jul 24, 2016 bioremediation has been shown to be a safe and effective way to reduce the effects of oil spills. Hindu college, nagercoil, tamil nadu, india key words. Bioremediation process types of bioremediation examples.
Importance of bioremediation and its future prospects. Due to the effectiveness and lower cost of bioremediation, two methods. Introduction an oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity. Bioremediation of oil spills society for applied microbiology. The biological method is also known as bioremediation, which can be broken down into bioaugmentation and biostimulation. Once hydrocarbons are absorbed it is collected and moved to open soil or a grassy area. 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. Pdf as the demand for liquid petroleum increases, the need for reliable and efficient oil spill cleanup techniques is inevitable. 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. Bioremediation as a removal response action at opa sites.
While an oil slick is floating, this can be done by spraying dispersants to encourage the oil to disperse. Bioremediation is considered one of the most sustainable cleanup techniques but the potential has not been fully exploited. Even though this is an efficient process of waste management but bioremediation cannot destroy 100% contaminants. Bioremediation is a viable mechanism for treating soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The answers come from a panel of scientists convened by the asm. The most notable oil spills at sea involve large tankers, such as exxon valdez, which spilled thousands of tones oil paine et al. Bioremediation of oil spills on land handbook of oil. One successful example of applying bioremediation in largescale cleanup is the mumbai oil spill of 2010, when oilzapper. 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. 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. Prince bioremediation is a potentially important option for dealing with marine oil spills. Bioremediation of soils saturated with spilled crude oil. Bioremediation of oil spills submitted by anchal garg environment science 2016 2. Bioremediation of petroleum in the sea is limited by n and p availability.
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. Oil spill response methods booms and skimmers bioremediation by oil eating bacteria edvokit 956 1. As the demand for liquid petroleum increases, the need for reliable and efficient oil spill cleanup techniques is inevitable. In the gulf of mexico oil spill, there was a large difference in the surface and deep water temperatures. The oil removal values in the oil saturated and diluted desert soil samples are presented in table 1. 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 spills require quick action so that they cause as little damage as possible. Summary bioremediation is a viable mechanism for treating soils contaminated with.
Weathering and environmental factors play large roles in the success of bioremediation. Bioremediation of marine oil spills has become a very practical approach to oil spill cleanup efforts in recent years. 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. Field work on the project was conducted at port curtis near gladstone in queensland. The physical properties of oil spills vary depending on the type of oil introduced into the ocean environment. Bioremediation of oil spills an annotated selection of world wide web sites relevant to the topics in microbial biotechnology. This ota background paper evaluates the current state of knowledge and assesses the potential of bioremediation for responding to marine oil spills. 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.
Biosparging, where air is pushed into soil to stimulate microbial bioremediation. The application of oleophilic fertilizer is a useful bioremediation strategy. 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. As the demand for liquid petroleum increases, the need for reliable and efficient oil spill cleanup techniques is keywords.
This technology did not live up to its initial promise. Oil buster xl absorbs oil, gasoline, diesel fuel and other hydrocarbons. Bacteria can be used to clean up oil spills in the ocean through bioremediation. Bioremediation of crude oil contaminated soil using. These oil spills can cause severe damage to sea and shoreline organisms whitfield, 2003. 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.
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