What are the Different Types of Bioremediation?



Some of the most common types of bioremediation are microbial bioremediation, phytoremediation, and mycoremediation. However, the word bioremediation has evolved in recent years to include biohazard removal and crime scene cleanup services. Although these branches of bioremediation share the same name, they vary drastically in both definition and execution.

Types of Bioremediation: a Closer Look

Bioremediation technology has made it possible to decontaminate soil and groundwater and has helped us clean up our oceans after oil spills and other environmental disasters. For a better understanding, let’s delve a little deeper into the classic types of bioremediation mentioned earlier.

  • Microbial bioremediation uses microorganisms to break down contaminants by using them as a food source.
  • Phytoremediation uses plants to bind, extract, and clean up pollutants such as pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons, metals, and chlorinated solvents.
  • Mycoremediation uses fungi’s digestive enzymes to break down contaminants such as pesticides, hydrocarbons, and heavy metals.

There are several organizations who specialize in the remediation of environmental pollutants. As we delve deeper into bioremediation, specifically crime scene cleanup, it is important to mention that these fields do not overlap, and vary greatly in their methods and credentials.

Bioremediation in Crime Scene Cleanup

In this sense of the word, bioremediation can be broken down to mean:

Bio, as in biological material
and remediation, as in the correction of something.

Building off of this definition, the goal of bioremediation (crime scene cleanup) is to rid a site of potential biohazards such as blood, body fluids, and communicable diseases. Rather than clean up a crime or trauma scene with bleach or ammonia — which can have negative effects on the environment — bioremediation companies often sanitize using enzyme cleaners that are less stringent.

How does crime scene cleanup work?

At the request of the victim’s family, Crime scene cleaners usually enter a trauma site once law enforcement officials have processed the scene. The job of a crime scene cleaner is not only to clean up the blood and potential biohazards that are left behind, but to also deodorize and completely sanitize the scene.

Aftermath, an industry leader in crime scene cleanup for almost 20 years, restores every trauma scene to hospital sanitization levels through the use of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) testing. The goal of ATP is to identify the presence of organic material by measuring cellular energy molecules onsite. Again, it is important to note that this branch of bioremediation varies greatly from the classic definition of the word, and that Aftermath does not handle the remediation of environmental pollutants.

For more information about crime scene cleanup and non-environmental bioremediation, Call Aftermath today.

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Sources:

http://earthrepair.ca/resources/bioremediation-types/
http://www.aftermath.com/contact-24-7-365/
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/6/prweb10845550.htm
http://www.epa.gov/tio/download/citizens/a_citizens_guide_to_bioremediation.pdf
http://www.environmental-expert.com/companies/keyword-oil-spill-bioremediation-14971