BIOREMEDIATION OF INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW AND PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Pollution is a global phenomenon and an inconvenient truth. Pollutants from industrial effluents released into the water bodies interfere with physiological functioning of living organisms upon consumption and make them vulnerable to various diseases. Polluted waters turn the soil infertile and intimidate growth of the vegetation. Conventional methods that are applied to treat the industrial waste water have drawbacks like high cost, maximization of sludge, loss of valuable nutrients and incomplete removal of the pollutants. Therefore, the question of sustainable technologies in remediating industrial waste water has long been intriguing the environmental biologists. Despite several discoveries on remediation potential of various organisms, there is considerable room for developing environmentally safe technologies with improved efficiency. Micro and phyto-remediation are extensively used in bench to batch scale technologies. The former involves microbes while the later deploys macro algae, plants and their biomass. In this paper we present a comprehensive outlook and critical observations on the bioremediation potential of organisms. Various subtle aspects of bioremediation are diligently brought out along with perspectives for future research.