Emerging contaminants in the environment and bioremediation control strategies – A review

Abstract

Rapid increase in population and emergence of many industries led to the emergence of contaminants from various sources such as domestic, industrial and agricultural activities etc. These contaminants reach the groundwater, surface water, municipal wastewater and food sources from agricultural fields. These pollutants contaminate the soil and in long term contaminate the groundwater sources due to transportation phenomena. Once the soil and groundwater are contaminated, the environment becomes a threat to the living beings. The objective of this article is to give an overview of the various types of contaminants, their emerging sources, their effect on the environment and suitable remediation techniques with emphasis on bioremediation techniques such as phytoremediation, phycoremediation, mycoremediation, bioventing, bioleaching, landfarming, bioreactor, composting, bioaugmentation, rhizofiltration, and biostimulation for treatment of these contaminants. This chapter mainly focusses on the fate of the contaminants emerging from various activities, their effects on the environment, remediation techniques and in specific the environmental friendly techniques to remediate the contaminated soil and water.