BIOL 371 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Anaerobic Respiration, Plastics Industry
Document Summary
Biol 371 lecture 16: microbiology of the built environment (chapter 22) 2 main classes of pollutants: natural materials such as hydrocarbons and metals, xenobiotics synthetic chemicals not produced naturally. These pollutants tend to be more persistent and are degraded by more specialized groups of microorganisms. Can involve either degradation of the pollutant (i. e. petroleum or synthetic organic chemicals: ultimately you want these things to be degraded to co2 (completely removing from environment. Or involve transformation of the pollutant to a less toxic form (i. e. uranium: metals and radionuclides cannot be destroyed, only altered chemically. A common goal in bioremediation of inorganic pollutants is to change their mobility, making them less likely to move with groundwater and so contaminate surrounding environments. Petroleum released in oil spills can generally be degraded completely to co2. Naturally occurring hydrocarbon degraders are widespread because naturally occurring oil spills are widespread. Petroleum is a rich source of organic matter.
