Abstract
Recent developments in biological deselenification of contaminated soils and water are supporting a new approach in remediation of selenium-enriched matrices. Laboratory research has shown that soil micro-organisms can detoxify seleniferous sediments by transforming soluble selenium compounds into a volatile form, dimethylselenide, that is nonhazardous to rats. The authors have discovered that under optimum conditions this naturally occurring bioremediation technique can be accelerated to the point where there is a significant decline in the original soil selenium inventory. This chapter focuses on the optimization and characterization of this microbial transformation with emphasis on onfarm applications, process operation, environmental regulations pertaining to selenium bioremediation, and a feasibility analysis.
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Thompson-Eagle, E.T., Frankenberger, W.T., Longley, K.E. (1991). Removal of Selenium from Agricultural Drainage Water Through Soil Microbial Transformations. In: Dinar, A., Zilberman, D. (eds) The Economics and Management of Water and Drainage in Agriculture. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4028-1_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4028-1_9
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