Bioremediation Treatment of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons for Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) distributed in air and soil are harmful because of their carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and teratogenicity. Biodegradation is an environmentally friendly and economical approach to control these types of contaminants and has become an essential method for remediating environments contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The bacteria are isolated and identified using a mineral nutrient medium containing PAHs as the sole source of carbon and energy and biochemical differential tests. Thus, this study focuses on some bacteria and fungi that degrade oil and hydrocarbons. This study provides a comprehensive, up-to-date, and efficient overview of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminant bioremediation considering hydrocarbon modification by microorganisms, emphasizing the new knowledge gained in recent years. The study shows that petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants are acceptably biodegradable by some microorganisms, and their removal by this method is cost-effective. Moreover, microbial biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants utilizes the enzymatic catalytic activities of microorganisms and increases the degradation of pollutants several times compared to conventional methods. Biological treatment is carried out in two ways: microbial stimulation and microbial propagation. In the first method, the growth of indigenous microorganisms in the area increases, and the pollution is eliminated. In the second method, on the other hand, there are no effective microorganisms in the area, so these microorganisms are added to the environment.