A Microbiological Strategy for the Decontamination of Polluted Land

Abstract

Many of the common contaminants occurring in land polluted by industrial waste such as gas and steelworks sites, are potential substrates for microorganisms. Removal of such contaminants may be effected by a strategy of (i) isolating indigenous microbes capable of their decomposition, growing them in large numbers, and reinoculating them into the soil; and (ii) manipulating the physicochemical characteristics of the soil to favour the proliferation of pollutant-degrading organisms.