Discuss the Use of Microbes in Cleaning up Environmental Pollution

'Discuss the use of microbes in cleaning up environmental pollution.'

The health of the human population is at risk because of the environmental pollution caused by toxic chemicals, those of which are organic and inorganic. It is the vast introduction of these contaminants into the universe which causes instability, and is harmful to the ecosystem, and consequently, to the human race. Pollution is much more than your average 'rubbish', as it can fall under various forms such as; air pollution, light pollution, noise pollution, soil contamination, thermal pollution, visual pollution, water pollution - the list is endless. Even though there are a variety of different reasons that could result in the pollution of the environment, that main cause is human activity. We, as inhabitants of this planet, are the cause of its gradual depletion. One of the starting points which can assist in the purification of the environment is the introduction of microbes, which can be defined as the microscopic organisms that are too small to be seen with a naked eye that can have both a positive and negative influence on the ecosystem. The topic of environmental pollution is one that should be drawn attention to, not only by 'environmentalists', but also by the general public as the avoidance of future contamination presents an enormous technical challenge for each and every individual (F.F. Evans, 2009). In this report, the various processes of bioremediation relating to different environmental pollutions will be discussed by presenting the advantages and disadvantages of each process.

Microbes, discovered in 1675 by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, come in many different forms, both of which have positive and negative effects on the ecosystem. These include fungi, which can be defined as the spore producing organisms that feed on living matter such as molds and yeast; bacteria, disease and infection causing microbes; protists, organisms with different nutritional and reproductive modes and lastly, archaea, which are single celled micro-organisms that relate closely to bacteria. Unfortunately, there are also microbes which are harmful to both humans and plants, called pathogens, which grow within other organisms, causing detrimental diseases. Generally, microbes can be found in all parts of the Universe - all over the earth's surface. Auspiciously, for us human, the positive effects of microbes in the environment are that they are capable of removing harmful chemicals that could affect the ecosystem through a process called, Bioremediation. This process consists of cleaning up environmental sites contaminated with chemical pollutants by using living organisms to degrade hazardous materials into less toxic substances (Thiemann, 2004). The way in which this process is conducted is by using a variety of different combinations of microbes, whose job is to consume the pollutants until they disappear. Instantly, the microbes themselves then disappear, because there is no more pollution that they can consume. Therefore, Bioremediation proves to be an effective means of cleaning up such pollutions that are extremely harmful to the environment over prolonged periods of time, as is the process of Mycoremediation.

Soil contamination, is caused by the presence of man-made chemicals such as oil/fuel dumping, application of pesticides, disposal