Environmental Biotechnology and Development of Human Activities
In the last century the development of multiple human activities (in industry, transport and production), the increase in the standard of living and the greater demand for supplies have increased air pollution (greenhouse gases), water (with pollutantsChemicals, such as oil spills, and biological), soil (overexploitation of mines and use of pesticides), use of disposable or non -biodegradable products, and the lack of adequate facilities for waste for. Many of these problems could be ignored for a long time, but when it began to affect human development, important economic activities and ecosystems for the planet began to look for a solution to these problems. In this way, environmental biotechnology began to be created as a discipline that could respond to the current contingency, and what a difference from conventional methods would no longer enlarge the problem. In recent years, a greater approach to the study of the areas in which environmental biotechnology could generate opportunities to address environmental problems or implement alternative methods to which they already exist. Therefore it will be useful to address the main applications of this Biotechnology branch as well as its scope and limitations.
According to Wang, L. (2010) Environmental biotechnology is a system of scientific knowledge and engineering related to the use of microorganisms and their products in the prevention of environmental pollution through the biological treatment of solid, liquid and gaseous waste, the bioremediation of contaminated environments and theBiomonitoring of environmental and treatment processes. This offers a new panorama in the treatment of waste, use of new materials and development of industrial processes, since it is possible to implement options other than the old physical, chemical or mechanical methods that simply temporarily reduced a problem or were generators of newpollutants.
Among the applications of environmental biotechnology is bioremediation, this is a set of biological treatment methods to eliminate, degrade or detoxify pollution in environmental media, including water, air, soil and solid waste (Gavrilescu, m. 2010). These pollutants can be degraded or eliminated by the action of microorganisms, plants. Resulting in the generation of non -aggressive or easily removable compounds of the environment. This option requires intense monitoring of the needs of the organism that is being used to carry out bioremediation, since a deficiency in them could cause a process failure. An example of this process is phytoxtraction or phytoacumulation that is the use of plants to accumulate contaminants in roots and sprouts or leaves on the ground. Save remediation costs by accumulating low levels of pollutants that can be transported for elimination or recycling
Another application is biofilters, which are biological systems that work under normal conditions of temperature and pressure operation. Therefore, they are relatively cheap. These types of reactors can simultaneously eliminate complex pollutant mixtures, which would otherwise require a series of alternative technologies. (Cohen 2001; Cox et al. 2001). Although these processes are cheap they work more efficiently when contaminated air currents have a low concentration of gas or particle that is desired to eliminate, therefore an overload of the contaminant could reduce the performance of the method. (Gavrilesc et al. 2005;Andrés et al. 2006).
A process similar to the last, but applicable to the elimination of toxic metal ions of wastewater is biosorption. Using living or dry biomass offers an alternative to the remediation of industrial waste, as well as a way to recover from metals contained in other media. In order to monitor the state in which an ecosystem, an industrial process or a medium that wants to be studied have also developed biotechnological alternatives. Environmental biosensors are analytical devices composed of a biological or biomarker sensory element that detects the presence of a substrate and then provides a signal that can be quantified.
The signal can be electric or in the form of a dye that changes color. They include an element of biological recognition such as an enzyme, antibody or cell that will react with the material to be detected. This type of tool can help to expedite the processes of recognition of pollutants in a medium and thus replace other physicochemical techniques that could alter the reading of what is being analyzed, in addition to being markers of biological origin can be produced at large scales.
There are great benefits as far as bioremediation is concerned, since as these innovative alternatives have been spoken in addition to contributing to the improvement of the environment, they can also save financial resources to those who use them, however it is also important to mention some of the disadvantages that can beintroduce. Most bioremediations consist of the degradation or capture of pollutant agents, for thisadapt to environmental conditions, concentrations of organic and inorganic substances, as well as oxygen availability (aerobic or anaerobic media). Another aspect to consider is the treatment time, there are organisms such as plants or bacteria that to remedy a large extension require specific temperature conditions, if these are below their ideal the process will slow down and will not be constant. In the same way, a process can have difficulty being monitored with conventional methods, this instead of a limitation could be taken as an area of opportunity for the use of bio-indicators.
In general, the advantages are that the destruction of pollutants can be achieved, usually without producing toxic by -products, it is usually less expensive than other technologies and can be used where the problem is located, almost always without causing a significant interruption of activitiesnormal or natural. Disadvantages are that a bioremediation process is limited to those compounds that are biodegradable. If organic pollutant levels are too high, these can be toxic to microbes as well as heavy metals can inhibit microbial activity. In addition, these processes must be carefully monitored to ensure effectiveness. By first tested on a laboratory scale it is difficult to climb them to a real scale and usually the projects only get on a pilot scale.
Since information on environmental biotechnology begins to be sought, it is evident that this branch of biotechnology has begun its true development just a few decades, the bibliographic sources that contain most of the useful information are still reduced and little known. Although modern biotechnology has long been easily observed as the greatest interest falls on the options for industrial production and economic growth. Pharmaceutical biotechnology for example has taken the looks lately, and it seems that it could have a more significant impact on the quality of human life. Environmental biotechnology, in contrast, deals with apparent issues less important, not very notorious, economically less significant or simply easier to ignore the majority of the population.
After reviewing methods proposed by environmental biotechnology, it is clear that a great engineering work is required to optimize the applications that discipline has (for example bioremediation, biophilotation), in addition to raising awareness of the population and the different areas of the industry, offering implement sustainable and profitable alternatives based on biotechnology. In this way a real and comprehensive development of the discipline would be achieved, consolidating it as well as one of the fields of science that must be necessarily studied and employees.
Bibliography
- Andres and, Dumont E, Le cloirec P, Ramirez-Lopez E (2006) Wood Bark As packing material in a biofilter used for aire treatment. Environmental Technology 27, 1297-1301.
- Cohen and (2001) Biofiltration – The Treatment of Fluids by Microorganisms Immobilized into the Filter Bedding Material: A Review. Bioresoorsaorsa technology 77, 257-274.
- Cox HHJ, Domuses Ma, Converse BM, Schroeder Ed, Patel DD, Vosoghi D, Iranpour R (2001) Odor and Voc Treatment by BioteRickling Filters: Pilot Scale Studies at The Hyperion Treatment Plant. Water Environment Research 74, 557-563
- Evans, g. & Furlong, J.. (2011). Introduction to Biotechnology. In Environmental Biotechnology Theory and Application (pp. 2-4). Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley. Gavrilesc M, Nicu M (2005) Source Reduction and Waste Minimization (In Romanian), Second Edition, Ecozone Press, Iasi, Romania, 230 pp.
- Gavrilescu, m. (2010). Environmental Biotechnology: Achievements, Opportunities and Challenges. Global Science Books, Vol. 4, pp. 1-36. Wang, l., Ivanov, w., Joo-Hwa Tay & Hung, and.. (2010). Applications of Environmental Biotechnology. In Environmental Biotechnology (Handbook of Environmental Engineering) (pp. 23). New York: Human Press.
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