Bioremediation Demystified
Eugene L. Madsen

In the popular press, the term “bioremediation” is thrown about with ease and recklessness in reference to a “new” pollution-control technology of immense promise for cleaning up hazardous waste sites. But, what really is bioremediation? And what can and can’t it do? Is it really new? Or is this “new” technology simply a recently-developed awareness (by legislators, environmental consultants, regulatory agencies, and owners of polluted sites) that microbial processes have served the biosphere for eons - and that these services continue today?

This exploration will answer the above questions by presenting sensible views of what microbial processes can do to toxic compounds and why. A tour of an environmental microbiology laboratory, and a brief experiment, will be included.