13+Bioremediation+Kevin+Dass

Bioremediation contaminated land: Nobody likes the look of contaminated land or water; it’s dirty and unsightly. Moreover, contaminated land poses a great threat to the environment as it can totally disrupt the natural ecosystem. Contaminated land can cause the disappearance of animal and plant species that once used to live in the area. The contamination of land as well as cause a great deal of people to become sick or die if the land which is contaminated is where or near to where humans live; especially if a water supply such as a lake or river is contaminated as well. Contaminated soil would cause any crops to be grown in the area to be of poor quality, lacking in nutrients and more than likely cause those eating them to fall ill. There are numerous things which can cause land to be contaminated, such as dumping of waste into water supplies, nuclear plant meltdowns etc. Two well-known causes of land contamination which recently occurred are undoubtedly the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan, which caused nuclear power plants to explode and leak tons of nuclear waste out into the water which then proceeded to travel down into the Pacific Ocean.



what we can do: Not all hope is lost when the land becomes contaminated! Through a process known as **remediation** (the act of remedying, or treating, something e.g., land or water so that it is safe once again) we can clean the contaminated land. One form of remediation, known as **bioremediation** enlists the use of live organisms (i.e., plants and microorganisms) to clean the contaminated area, whether it is soil or water. There are four types of bioremediation which are capable of being used at the site of contamination, or on contaminated material removed from the site:


 * Phytoremediation: the use of plants to naturally remove toxic chemicals and/or pollutants from soil and water.
 * Biostimulation: the addition of nutrients and oxygen in a liquid or gaseous form to contaminated water or soil to stimulate the growth and activeness of bacteria which had already been living in the soil or water.
 * Bioaugmentation: the addition of microorganisms which have the ability to clean up a certain contaminant to the affected soil or water. Unfortunately, this form of bioremediation has not been particularly effective when used at the site where contamination occurred as it is not very easy to manipulate site circumstances to ensure the optimal growth for the added microorganisms. In addition, it may be difficult for microorganisms added to a foreign environment to survive.
 * Intrinsic Bioremediation: caused by microorganisms, this form of bioremediation naturally occurs in contaminated soil or water. Also known as “natural attenuation”. This is seen in petroleum contamination sites, and it is currently being investigated as to whether this form of bioremediation takes place in sites with other forms of chemical contamination.

While bioremediation has been shown to be a highly cost-effective form of remediation, there are some drawbacks, one being that it is possible that the process will take a longer time than other forms of remediation would. Here is a video demonstrating how a company's bioremediation process helped clean an oil spill in the Amazon Rainforest.

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how does bioremediation take place? Since most forms of bioremediation depend on microorganisms, they also depend on the natural processes of the microorganisms, such as metabolism. You can group metabolic processes into two types: Anabolism and catabolism have a rather simple role in bioremediation. Chemicals, such as hydrocarbons (which belong to the carbon family) that are found at sites contaminated with petroleum products can be used by microorganisms as the building blocks for components of cells. Other chemicals which are required by microorganisms iron, copper, cobalt and chromium, and they can all be found in copious amounts at contaminated sites.
 * Anabolism, which builds complex structures from simpler ones. Microbial cells consist of sugars, proteins and nucleic acids, and the main basic chemicals which build them are the elements carbon and nitrogen. Carbon and nitrogen are absorbed from the soil, water and air around the microorganisms which can be used to make cell parts or just absorb nutrients. To do this, microorganisms require energy, which is where catabolism comes into the picture.
 * Catabolism breaks down complex structures into simpler ones and allows microorganisms to gain energy from the chemicals present in the environment surrounding them. Microorganisms require energy to perform regular cell functions, like those involved in anabolism.

what about phytoremediation? **Phytoremediation** is a form of bioremediation that does //not// rely on microorganisms, and thus it occurs a little differently. Plants will naturally absorb some chemicals and metals which are essential for their growth, including zinc, copper and iron. This natural process is exactly what phyroremediation is. When the plants have absorbed the appropriate amount of chemicals, they are harvested and then discarded, however, if the chemicals break down into water or carbon dioxide, the plants may not need any sort of unique method of being disposed of. The preferred method of disposing of plants that have absorbed large amounts of contaminants is through controlled incineration. After the plants are incinerated, the ashes are collected and taken to appropriate waste sites. If plants absorbed metals, their ashes would contain a high concentration of metal content, and scientists are working on ways to try to recover the original metals from the ashes.

Advantages of using phytoremediation are:
 * It's environmentally-friendly and cost-effective
 * It could possibly reduce the spread of contaminants into the surrounding environment by preventing them from leaking into groundwater systems
 * Metals which are absorbed from the plants may be removed from harvested plants and recycled.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Disadvantages of using phytoremediation are:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">It takes time as it relies on the natural cycles of plants
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">It works best only when the contamination is very close to the plants and thus easily accessed; it should be about 3-6 feet underground for herbaceous plants and 10-15 feet underground for trees
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is possible that some animals will be at risk if they feed on the plants, as certain plants absorb a large amount of toxic metals



bibliography: information: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/world/asia/05japan.html?_r=1 <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.biobasics.gc.ca/english/View.asp?x=741 <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.biobasics.gc.ca/english/View.asp?x=742 pictures: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://topnews.net.nz/images/BP-oil-spill_0.jpg <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.findamasters.com/logos/cour_4771.JPG <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CP63frWJ5Tk/TPy9kY9q70I/AAAAAAAACRc/7aCfbLKqFMo/s1600/micro-organism.jpg <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://ideonexus.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/phytoremediation02.jpg

things I’ve learned: <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Super Glue (Farooq Darsot):**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Super glue is strong enough to hold a vehicle in the air
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's made of cyanoacrylate (C5H5NO2)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is soluble in acetone ((CH3)2CO)

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Iodine (Shamarke Ali):**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Iodine has a melting point of 114 °C
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Iodine deficiency can cause thyroid problems
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Iodine was created accidentally

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Neutralizing Stomach Acid (Thurka Thankathurai ):**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stomach acid is made up of a combination of hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride and sodium chloride
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's strong enough to eat through living tissue
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Heartburn is caused when some stomach acid leaks up into the esophagus