How microorganisms can be used in oil spills
What are oil spills?
What threats does an oil spill pose?
Physical and chemical procedure
Biofilms
How microorganisms can be used in oil spills
Microorganisms can be used to recover ecosystems when environmental disasters such as oil spills occur.
Oil spills pollute oceans, rivers and their ecosystems because they are very dense, toxic and difficult to break down or fit into the existing ecosystem.
What are oil spills?
Oil spills are the result of the petroleum industry that extracts huge amounts of oil quickly for the world’s energy needs. When extraction is compromised or there is an accident or human error, oil spills can occur in the surrounding environment such as in the middle of the ocean or nearby a river.
What threats does an oil spill pose?
The spills then spread out of control and spell disaster for the environment, its plants, animals and human settlements.
Oil represents an instant fire hazard, can contaminate drinking water, hurts birds and mammals, causes respiratory distress, preventing some animals from finding their young due to the strong smell of oil, causes organ damage and failure in some species, and can damage air quality.
Physical and chemical procedure
Physical and chemical procedures are used to deal with oil spills, in addition to bioremediation. Adding hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria to the spill site helps to gradually remove the oil and restore…