BIOAUGMENTATION AS BIOREMEDIATION APPROACH FOR CONTAMINATED SOIL: A REVIEW

Abstract

The inevitable impacts by the emerging urbans developments towards the quality and function of soil have raised concerns for future environment consequences. Pollutants that evolved from the anthropogenic activities including heavy metals, pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) tend to be persistent within the soil and hence, contribute to long term effects towards the environment and human’s health. Researchers discovered the success of bioaugmentation as part of bioremediation as an approach towards degrading the pollutants by employing microorganisms (i.e., bacteria or fungi) to enhance the removal of pollutants. The concept, mechanism, method, and factors affecting bioaugmentation is studied for the past years to explore the thorough process of bioaugmentation. It is claimed that bioaugmentation is directly related to the microbial activity and have three different approaches (autochthonous, allochthonous, and genetically engineering microorganisms). pH, temperature, moisture, and oxidation reduction potential are the key prospects towards bioaugmentation efficiency. The application of bioaugmentation towards each targeted pollutant are studied to certify its capability of degrading, removing, and transforming pollutants into less toxic components.