Bioremediation as a useful biotechnological strategy for the treatment of phenolics: advances , challenges and futures prospects

PAISIO CE; WEVAR OLLER AL; IBAÑEZ SG; TALANO MA; GONZALEZ PS; MEDINA MI; AGOSTINI E

Bioremediation processes, challenges and future prospects

Nova Science Publishers

Lugar: New York; Año: 2014; p. 57 - 80

Bioremediation is an attractive biotechnological tool for the treatment of water and effluents containing toxic pollutants, including phenolics, which are very hazardous compounds due to their high toxicity and environmental persistence. Several microbes can break down these compounds and have been identified in nature. Among them, some bacterial species are used for biodegradation or biotransformation of phenolics, as an eco-friendly technology to treat contaminated environments. Most of these bacteria can utilize phenolics as sole carbon and energy source and the metabolic pathways implicated in this process are well established. Immobilization of bacterial cells on to different support matrices has represented a very important advance in the application of bioremediation. Furthermore, the use of this strategy on the desing of new types of bioreactors has allowed the remediation of high concentrations and volumes of water and effluents contaminated with phenolics. Due to the great industrial production of this kind of wastewater, the application and the improvement of the mentioned strategies would be useful. This chapter highlights the more recent applications of bacteria for phenol bioremediation, new advances for the improvement of this technology as well as the less explored aspects that must be deepened to assess the feasibility of phenolics bioremediation from highly contaminated effluents.