Compiling knowledge gained through more than 50 years of experience in environmental engineering technology, this book illustrates the application of fundamental concepts in microbiology to provide a sound basis for the design and operation of various biological systems used in solving environmental challenges in the air, water, and soil. Environmental Pollution Control Microbiology emphasizes the quantitative relationships of microbial growth and metabolism, beginning an examination of the overall metabolism and resulting growth of bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, rotifers, and other microorganisms and explains how bacteria bring about the stabilization of biodegradable organic pollutants.
This book is a compilation of detailed and latest knowledge on the various types of environmental pollutants released from various natural as well as anthropogenic sources, their toxicological effects in environments, humans, animals and plants as well as various bioremediation approaches for their safe disposal into the environments. In this book, an extensive focus has been made on the various types of environmental pollutants discharged from various sources, their toxicological effects in environments, humans, animals and plants as well as their biodegradation and bioremediation approaches for environmental cleanup.
Microbes and their biosynthetic capabilities have been invaluable in finding solutions for several intractable problems mankind has encountered in maintaining the quality of the environment. They have, for example, been used to positive effect in human and animal health, genetic engineering, environmental protection, and municipal and industrial waste treatment. Microorganisms have enabled feasible and cost-effective responses which would have been impossible via straightforward chemical or physical engineering methods. Microbial technologies have of late been applied to a range of environmental problems, with considerable success. This survey of recent scientific progress in usefully applying microbes to both environmental management and biotechnology is informed by acknowledgement of the polluting effects on the world around us of soil erosion, the unwanted migration of sediments, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and the improper treatment of human and animal wastes. These harmful phenomena have resulted in serious environmental and social problems around the world, problems which require us to look for solutions elsewhere than in established physical and chemical technologies. Often the answer lies in hybrid applications in which microbial methods are combined with physical and chemical ones. When we remember that these highly effective microorganisms, cultured for a variety of applications, are but a tiny fraction of those to be found in the world around us, we realize the vastness of the untapped and beneficial potential of microorganisms. At present, comprehending the diversity of hitherto uncultured microbes involves the application of metagenomics, with several novel microbial species having been discovered using culture-independent approaches. Edited by recognized leaders in the field, this penetrating assessment of our progress to date in deploying microorganisms to the advantage of environmental management and biotechnology will be widely welcomed.
Over the past two decades, the use of microbes to remove pollutants from contaminated air streams has become a widely accepted and efficient alternative to the classical physical and chemical treatment technologies. This book focuses on biotechnological alternatives, looking at both the optimization of bioreactors and the development of cleaner biofuels. It is the first reference work to give a broad overview of bioprocesses for the mitigation of air pollution. Essential reading for researchers and students in environmental engineering, biotechnology, and applied microbiology, and industrial and governmental researchers.
The remediation of environmental pollutants has become a relevant topic within the field of waste management. Advances in biological approaches are a potential tool for contamination and pollution control. The Handbook of Research on Microbial Tools for Environmental Waste Management is a critical scholarly resource that explores the advanced biological approaches that are used as remediation for pollution cleanup processes. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as biodegradation, microbial dehalogenation, and pollution controlling treatments, this book is geared towards environmental scientists, biologists, policy makers, graduate students, and scholars seeking current research on environmental engineering and green technologies.
For microbiology and environmental microbiology courses, this leading textbook builds on the academic success of the previous edition by including a comprehensive and up-to-date discussion of environmental microbiology as a discipline that has grown in scope and interest in recent years. From environmental science and microbial ecology to topics in molecular genetics, this edition relates environmental microbiology to the work of a variety of life science, ecology, and environmental science investigators. The authors and editors have taken the care to highlight links between environmental microbiology and topics important to our changing world such as bioterrorism and national security with sections on practical issues such as bioremediation, waterborne pathogens, microbial risk assessment, and environmental biotechnology.WHY ADOPT THIS EDITION? New chapters on: - Urban Environmental Microbiology - Bacterial Communities in Natural Ecosystems - Global Change and Microbial Infectious Disease - Microorganisms and Bioterrorism - Extreme Environments (emphasizing the ecology of these environments) - Aquatic Environments (now devoted to its own chapter- was combined with Extreme Environments) Updates to Methodologies: - Nucleic Acid -Based Methods: microarrays, phyloarrays, real-time PCR, metagomics, and comparative genomics - Physiological Methods: stable isotope fingerprinting and functional genomics and proteomics-based approaches - Microscopic Techniques: FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridization) and atomic force microscopy - Cultural Methods: new approaches to enhanced cultivation of environmental bacteria - Environmental Sample Collection and Processing: added section on air sampling
Pollution is one of the most serious issues facing mankind and other life forms on earth. Environmental pollution leads to the degradation of ecosystems, loss of services, economic losses, and various other problems. The eco-friendliest approach to rejuvenating polluted ecosystems is with the help of microorganism-based bioremediation. Microorganisms are characterized by great biodiversity, genetic and metabolic machinery, and by their ability to survive, even in extremely polluted environments. As such, they are and will remain the most important tools for restoring polluted ecosystems / habitats. This three-volume book sheds light on the utilization of microorganisms and the latest technologies for cleaning up polluted sites. It also discusses the remediation or degradation of various important pollutants such as pesticides, wastewater, plastics, PAHs, oil spills etc. The book also explains the latest technologies used for the degradation of pollutants in several niche ecosystems. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to teachers, researchers, bioremediation scientists, capacity builders and policymakers. It also offers valuable additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of microbiology, ecology, soil science, and the environmental sciences.
Microorganisms for Sustainable Environment and Health covers hazardous pollutants released from natural as well as anthropogenic activities and implications on environmental and human health. This book serves as a valuable source of basic knowledge and recent developments in the clean technologies and pollution-associated diseases and abnormalities in the context of microorganisms. Focused on current solutions to various environmental problems in the field of bioremediation, it provides a detailed knowledge on the various types of toxic environmental pollutants discharged from different sources, their toxicological effects in environments, humans, animals and plants as well as their biodegradation and bioremediation approaches. This book helps environmental scientists and microbiologists learn about existing environmental problems and suggests ways to control or contain their effects by employing various treatment approaches. - Provides information on waste treatment approaches using microbes - Includes applications in biofuel and bioenergy production - Covers green belt development, hydroponics, phytoremediation, wetland treatment technology, and common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) - Discusses dissemination of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic microbes and strategies to combat multi-drug resistance (MDR)
Complex environmental problems are often reduced to an inappropriate level of simplicity. While this book does not seek to present a comprehensive scientific and technical coverage of all aspects of the subject matter, it makes the issues, ideas, and language of environmental engineering accessible and understandable to the nontechnical reader.Improvements introduced in the fourth edition include a complete rewrite of the chapters dealing with risk assessment and ethics, the introduction of new theories of radiation damage, inclusion of environmental disasters like Chernobyl and Bhopal, and general updating of all the content, specifically that on radioactive waste.Since this book was first published in 1972, several generations of students have become environmentally aware and conscious of their responsibilities to the planet earth. Many of these environmental pioneers are now teaching in colleges and universities, and have in their classes students with the same sense of dedication and resolve that they themselves brought to the discipline. In those days, it was sometimes difficult to explain what indeed environmental science or engineering was, and why the development of these fields was so important to the future of the earth and to human civilization. Today there is no question that the human species has the capability of destroying its collective home, and that we have indeed taken major steps toward doing exactly that.And yet, while, a lot has changed in a generation, much has not. We still have air pollution; we still contaminate our water supplies; we still dispose of hazardous materials improperly; we still destroy natural habitats as if no other species mattered. And worst of all, we still continue to populate the earth at an alarming rate. There is still a need for this book, and for the college and university courses that use it as a text, and perhaps this need is more acute now than it was several decades ago. Although the battle to preserve the environment is still raging, some of the rules have changed. We now must take into account risk to humans, and be able to manipulate concepts of risk management. With increasing population, and fewer alternatives to waste disposal, this problem is intensified. Environmental laws have changed, and will no doubt continue to evolve. Attitudes toward the environment are often couched in what has become known as the environmental ethic. Finally, the environmental movement has become powerful politically, and environmentalism can be made to serve a political agenda.In revising this book, we have attempted to incorporate the evolving nature of environmental sciences and engineering by adding chapters as necessary and eliminating material that is less germane to today's students. We have nevertheless maintained the essential feature of this book -- to package the more important aspects of environmental engineering science and technology in an organized manner and present this mainly technical material to a nonengineering audience.This book has been used as a text in courses which require no prerequisites, although a high school knowledge of chemistry is important. A knowledge of college level algebra is also useful, but calculus is not required for the understanding of the technical and scientific concepts.We do not intend for this book to be scientifically and technically complete. In fact, many complex environmental problems have been simplified to the threshold of pain for many engineers and scientists. Our objective, however, is not to impress nontechnical students with the rigors and complexities of pollution control technology but rather to make some of the language and ideas of environmental engineering and science more understandable.
