Bioremediation Principles and Techniques on Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soil

Crude oil, refined petroleum products, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are major contaminants in the environment, as they cause damages to the surrounding ecosystems. They can bioaccumulate in food chains where they changes biochemical or physiological activities of many organisms, thus causing carcinogenesis or mutagenesis in exposed population. Contamination of soil with spills is one of the most limiting factors to soil fertility and crop productivity. Crude oil is deleterious to a wide spectrum of plants, animals and microbial communities, through oxygen stress and direct toxic effects. Bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil is a potentially important application of Environmental Biotechnology. Bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons has been proposed as an effective, economic, and environmentally friendly technology. However, bioremediation can be considered one of the best technologies to deal with petroleum product contaminated soil. The main strategies in bioremediation of oil spills, which include biostimulation, bioaugmentation, Land farming, Composting, Bioventing and Biopiles are reviewed.