i. What is the meaning of remediation? ii. What is the difference between phytoremediation and microbial remediation?

Question

Read the paragraph and answer the questions given below:

Remediation is the process of removing dangerous or poisonous substances from the environment, or limiting the effect that they have on it. When any biological organism is used for remediation, it is called bioremediation. When plant species are used for the purpose of remediation, it is called phytoremediation. When any microbes are used then it is named as microbial remediation. The methods of such remediation have helped to clean the environment from toxic effluents, especially sewage and crude oil. Dr. Anand Chakraborty, a scientist of Indian origin, has worked on Pseudomonas aeruginosa which have reduced the crude oil films into carbon dioxide and water.

i. What is the meaning of remediation?

ii. What is the difference between phytoremediation and microbial remediation?

iii. Which environmental pollutant is mainly removed through bioremediation processes?

iv. What is the role of Pseudomonas aeruginosa?

v. Why Dr. Anand Chakraborty’s work phenomenal?

Answer 1

i. Remediation is the process by which dangerous or toxic substances are removed from the environment.

ii. When any plant species are used for remediation process, then it is called phytoremediation, whereas when any microbe species used for remediation then it is called microbial remediation.

iii. Toxicants released through sewage and crude oil are removed by bioremediation processes.

iv. Pseudomonas aeruginosa helps in bioremediation by acting on film of crude oil and reduces it to carbon dioxide and water.

v. Dr. Anand Chakraborty discovered that Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria can act on oil film which is toxic and reduce it to nontoxic products. This helps in controlling the oil pollution of marine waters which otherwise is very difficult to control.