Healthy environment is important for any kind of biota on earth. It provides the basic elements of life such as clean water, fresh air, fertile soil and supports ecosystem of the food chain. Pollution drastically alters quality of the environment by changing the physico-chemical and biological aspects of these components. Accordingly, toxic metals, combustible and putrescible substances, hazardous wastes, explosives and petroleum products are all examples of inorganic and organic compounds that cause contaminations. Specifically, pollution of toxic and heavy metal in the environment is a growing problem worldwide, currently at an alarming rate. Toxic metals threaten the aquatic ecosystems, agriculture and ultimately human health. Traditional treatment techniques offer certain advantages such as rapid processing, ease of operation and control and flexibility. But, they could not maintain the quality of the environment due to the high operational costs of chemicals used, high energy consumption and handling costs for sludge disposal and overburden of chemical substances which irreversibly affect and destroy biodiversity, which ultimately render the soil useless as a medium for plant growth. Therefore, bioremediation and biotechnology, carried out by living assets to clean up, stabilize and restore contaminated ecosystems, have emerged as promising, environmental friendly and affordable approaches. Furthermore, the use of microbes, algae, transgenic plants and weeds adapted to stressful environments could be employed to enhance accumulation efficiency. Hence, sustainable and inexpensive processes are fast emerging as a viable alternative to conventional remediation methods, and will be most suitable for developing countries. In the current volume, we discuss pollution remediation challenges and how living organisms and the latest biotechnological techniques could be helpful in remediating the pollution in ecofriendly and sustainable ways.

In this volume, experts from universities, government labs and industry share their findings on the microbiological, biochemical and molecular aspects of biodegradation and bioremediation. The text covers numerous topics, including: bioavailability, biodegradation of various pollutants, microbial community dynamics, properties and engineering of important biocatalysts, and methods for monitoring bioremediation processes. Microbial processes are environmentally compatible and can be integrated with non-biological processes to detoxify, degrade and immobilize environmental contaminants.

This book addresses the grave concerns stemming out due to conventional treatment techniques. The main focus of this book revolves round the central kernel of novel technology (bioremediation and biotechnology) which has emerged as an independent warrior to clean up and restore the disturbed environs. Furthermore, this book is a coherent assortment of diverse chapters relevant to the role of biotechnology and bioremediation for restoration of the ecosystems degraded by pesticide and heavy metal pollution. The inaugural chapters deal with the quantification of problem and its magnitude due to pesticides and heavy metals, followed by innovative modern biotechnological and bioremediation treatment technologies and sustainable techniques to remediate the persistent pollutants. It is a detailed comprehensive account for the treatment technologies from unsustainable to sustainable. Academicians, researchers and students shall find it as a complete wrap up regarding biotechnological intervention for sustainable treatment of pollution and shall suffice for the diverse needs of teaching and research.

Phytoremediation has evolved into an important tool to improve the bioremediation process since it is an innovative green technology that uses a wide variety of plants to remediate radioactive metals and elements, organics, and chemicals from soil, sediment, surface water, and groundwater environmental pollutants. Together, bioremediation and phytoremediation technologies provide an effective approach to contaminant abatement. Volume 3 of the four-volume set identifies and draws a fresh image of existing developments in theoretical and functional implementation systems from recent scientific research studies that consider different facets of bioremediation. It also discusses the latest technology and prospects of new soil bioremediation technology and analyzes their domains, along with their associated challenges and consequences. Other volumes in the 4-volume set: * Volume 1: Fundamental Aspects and Contaminated Sites * Volume 2: Microbial Approaches and Recent Trends * Volume 4: Degradation of Pesticides and Polychlorinated Biphenyls Together, these four volumes provide in-depth coverage of the mechanisms, advantages, and disadvantages of the bioremediation and phytoremediation technologies for safe and sustainable soil management. The diverse topics help to arm biologists, agricultural engineers, environmental and soil scientists and chemists with the information and tools they need to address soil toxins that are a dangerous risk to plants, wildlife, humans and, of course, the soil itself.

Biodegradation is the break down of organic matter by microbes. Bioremediation is an engineered technique applied by people to clean up organic matter by helping microbes with the biodegradation process. One way of doing that is to introduce oxygen into the subsurface to help more aerobic microbes grow in order to clean up oil in the soil.The potential toxicity (harmful action) inherent in a substance is manifest only when that substance comes in contact with that susceptible living biological system. A chemical normally thought of as "e;harmless"e; will evoke a toxic response if added to a biological system in sufficient amount. The toxic potency of a chemicals is defined by the relationship between dose (the amount) of the chemical and the response that is produced in a biological system. The toxicity of industrial wastes is not often managed and it has caused serious damage to earth and water. The most important aspect of environmental biotechnology is the effective management of hazardous and toxic pollutants (xenobiotics) by bioremediation. The environmental clean-up process through bioremediation can be achieved in two ways-in situ and ex situ bioremediation. The book aims to provide relevant theoretical and practical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in this area, along with case studies. It is written for students, academicians and industry professionals who want to improve their understanding of the strategic role of biodegradation and bioremediation at different levels of the biodegradation and bioremediation research and knowledge, that is, heavy metal pollution, toxicity, remediation methods and strategies to manage the waste in industries, which are a global concern.

Microbial or biological degradation has long been the subject of active concern, and the rapid expansion and growing sophistication of various industries in the last century has significantly increased the volume and complexity of toxic residues of wastes. These can be remediated by plants and microbes, either natural origin or adapted for a specific purpose, in a process known as bioremediation. The interest in microbial biodegradation of pollutants has intensified in recent years in an attempt to find sustainable ways to clean contaminated environments. These bioremediation and biotransformation methods take advantage of the tremendous microbial catabolic diversity to degrade, transform or accumulate a variety of compounds, such as hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, polaromatic hydrocarbons pharmaceutical substances, radionuclides and metals. Unlike conventional methods, bioremediation does not physically disturb the site. This book describes the basic principles of biodegradation and shows how these principles are related to bioremediation. Authored by leading, international environmental microbiologists, it discusses topics such as aerobic biodegradation, microbial degradation of pollutants, and microbial community dynamics. It provides valuable insights into how biodegration processes work and can be utilised for pollution abatement, and as such appeals to researchers and postgraduate students as well as experts in the field of bioremediation.

This volume is a collection of informative chapters on various subjects. It provides information on the effects of pesticides on avian fauna, the impact of microbial ecosystems to solve environmental problems, a detailed review on issues in membrane distillations process, microbial sensor for detection of pollutants, microbial biosurfactants, biotechnological applications of immobilised microalgae as well as a review on Biochar production. Most importantly, this book contains a critical review on microbial degradation of plastic wastes and highlights the Biodegradation and Bioremediation of Herbicides.