BIOREMEDIATION

Bioremediation is the use of living organisms to degrade environmental pollutants or to prevent pollution through waste treatment. Currently, the process is becoming one of the important alternatives used to remove pollutants from environment, restoring contaminated sites and preventing further pollution. As part of the increasing interest for bioremediation, three differing foci for bioremediation research are emerging worldwide. In Europe, R&D is dominated by efforts to expand traditional waste treatment systems to cope with specific chemical pollutants. At U.S. research is directed towards site-specific cleanup of soil and water contaminated with petroleum and xenobiotic pollutants. Finally, in Japan, the focus of R&D is the use of bioremediation to address global environmental concerns.