Biotreatment of industrial effluents CHAPTER 1 – introduction CHAPTER 2 – environmental disasters

Biotreatment of industrial effluents CHAPTER 1 – introduction CHAPTER 2 – environmental disasters Biotreatment of industrial effluents CHAPTER 1 – introduction CHAPTER 2 – environmental disasters Biotreatment of industrial effluents CHAPTER 1 – introduction CHAPTER 2 – environmental disasters Biotreatment of industrial effluents CHAPTER 1 – introduction CHAPTER 2 – environmental disasters Biotreatment of industrial effluents CHAPTER 1 – introduction CHAPTER 2 – environmental disasters

CHAPTER Introduction Movement of Pollutants from the Source A pollutant is defined as "a substance that occurs in the environment, at least in part as a result of h u m a n activities, and has a deleterious effect on the environment." The term pollutant is a broad term that refers to a wide range of compounds, from a superabundance of nutrients giving rise to enrichment of ecosystems to toxic compounds that may be carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic Pollutants can be divided into two major groups, namely, those that affect the physical environment and those that are directly toxic to organisms, including h u m a n beings The m o v e m e n t of pollutants and toxic compounds through the environment is called pollution (Fig 1-1) and is very similar to the m o v e m e n t of energy and nutrients within the ecosystem or, on a larger scale, through the biosphere Rapid industrialization in the twentieth century had led to the generation of vast amounts of gas, liquid, and solid waste that were introduced into the environment without m u c h thought by the manufacturers of that waste This has affected the ecosystem and has caused health problems for the inhabitants residing near the factories As people became more aware of the toxic effects of this waste, as they saw the destruction of the ecosystem due to the indiscriminate discharge of the pollutants, and as federal and local laws imposed more stringent discharge norms, efforts were made to treat these wastes so as to make them innocuous before discharge into public systems Initially, the treatment procedures were based on physical and chemical methods, which proved to be inadequate and costly Biochemical methods, which have inherent advantages, are still in their early stages of development Effluent Discharge Points to Keep in Mind Several points related to the discharge of pollutants into public waterways or land have to be kept in mind, such as: local laws on discharge limits, Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents FIGURE 1-1 Movement of pollutants VOC, volatile organic compound the effect of the pollutants on the ecosystem (short- and long-term data may not be available), toxicity of the secondary metabolites, discharge of secondary waste generated (such as sludge, inorganics, etc.), and the impact of modifying the existing microorganism population in the soil or water Different Treatment Procedures and Factors Affecting Technology Selection The treatment of solid, liquid, and gaseous pollution can be carried out either in situ (i.e., at the contaminated site) or ex situ (i.e., removing the polluted material, transporting it to another site or plant, treating it, and then bringing it back to the site) Both approaches have several advantages and disadvantages The former is cost effective but could be slow and nonuniform The latter involves several steps and exposes the workers to the pollutants Physical, chemical, biological, and phytoremediation methods have been attempted to destroy pollutants The selection of the treatment technology (Fig 1-2) will depend on several factors, including cleanup time, maturity of the technology, capital and operating costs, residual product toxicity after treatment, local discharge norms, reliability of the process, ease of facility maintenance, company image, generation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and treatment of halogenated compounds or explosives Introduction Factors affecting process selection ~ompany image ~ ~x'X~ ~ -.,Jl Chemical Treatment method Thermal FIGURE 1-2 Selection of treatment technology In situ physical and chemical t r e a t m e n t techniques include: 9 9 9 C h e m i c a l oxidation Electrokinetic separation P n e u m a t i c or explosive fracturing of the soil Soil flushing using solvents, cosolvents, or surfactants Vapor extraction T h e r m a l t r e a t m e n t using electric resistance, injecting h o t air or steam, or electromagnetic heating C o n t a i n m e n t by creating physical barrier ~ Landfill Ex situ physical and chemical t r e a t m e n t techniques include: 9 9 Extraction w i t h acid, alkali, solvent, or surfactants Mechanical separation such as magnetic, sieving, filtration, etc Stripping using air or steam C h e m i c a l or t h e r m a l oxidation, reduction, or dehalogenation Incineration Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents Absorption or adsorption of liquid or gaseous contaminants Separation of liquid contaminants by distillation, ion exchange, crystallization, or membrane partition An organic compound could be biodegraded by four different mechanisms, namely, (a) aerobic oxidation of an organic primary growth substrate (e.g., natural o~'ganic material, hydrocarbon fuels, chlorobenzenes, and the less oxidized chlorinated ethenes and ethanes); (b) anaerobic reduction, where the organic compound serves as the electron acceptor (e.g., highly oxidized chlorinated hydrocarbons, less chlorinated ethenes and ethanes such as trichloroethane); (c) coupled oxidation and reduction of an organic compound by a fermentation pathway; and (d) cometabolism of an organic compound, which occurs when the degradation is catalyzed by an enzyme cofactor produced by microorganisms for some other purpose The microbial processes involved in biodegradation are linked to the extraction of chemical energy for microbial growth, which comes from coupling the oxidation and the reduction reactions Biological treatment technologies include: Enhanced bioremediation (enhancement achieved by addition of nitrate, oxygen, or metabolites) Bioventing Bioaugmentation (organisms that have been specifically grown in the lab on the contaminants) Biopiles Composting (windrow or static pile) Land farming Slurry phase bioreactors Biosorption Phytoremediation techniques include: In situ phytoextraction/accumulation (removes toxins from the soil and concentrates them in the harvestable part of the plant) In situ phytodegradation (plants and associated microbes degrade the pollutants) In situ phytostabilization (the mobility of the pollutant is reduced through chemical modification or immobilization) In situ phytovolatilization (volatilization of the pollutant into the atmosphere) Enhanced rhizosphere biodegradation (plant roots absorb the pollutants) Cost of phytoremediation has been estimated to be $25 to $100 per ton of soil treatment and $0.60 to $6 per 1000 gallons for treatment of aqueous waste streams The cost of this remediation technique is estimated to be half that of any other treatment According to 1997 U.S Environmental Introduction Protection Agency estimates, the cost of using phytoremediation in the form of an alternative cover (vegetative cap) ranges from $10,000 to $30,000 per acre, which is thought to be two- to fivefold less expensive than traditional capping (Macek et al., 2000) Environmental Engineering An Interdisciplinary Subject Environmental engineering is an interdisciplinary subject encompassing microbiology, biotechnology, chemical engineering, chemistry, analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, engineering design, and mechanical engineering Knowledge of atmospheric sciences, oceanography, geology, and civil engineering is also essential Environmental engineering helps to maintain the quality of life through the betterment of the environment This means the development of sufficient clean water supplies; the prevention of air, soil, river, lake, ocean, and groundwater pollution; the maintenance of good air quality; and the remediation by natural means of land and water contaminated with hazardous chemicals The use of "natural means" is an important prerequisite, else we would be converting one type of pollution to another Various Chapters in the Book and How They Are Interrelated The five most polluting industries in the United States (1987 data) are iron and steel, nonferrous metals, industrial chemicals, nonmetallic mineral products, and pulp and paper The polluting industries were classified on the basis of the comprehensive index of emissions per unit of output The index includes conventional air, water, and heavy metals pollutants (Mani and Wheeler, 1998) Table 1-1 compares the organic water pollution intensity TABLE 1-1 Comparison of Organic Water Pollution Intensity Index Food Pulp and paper Chemicals Textiles Wood products Metal products Metal Nonmetallic minerals 1.00 0.87 0.29 0.26 0.13 0.08 0.03 0.02 Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents TABLE 1-2 Classification of Industries Based on Gaseous Pollution and Volatile Organic Compounds CO High Iron NOx S02 Industrial Metals chemicals Other chemicals Petrol refinery Petrol Medium Industrial Iron Industrial chemicals Metal chemicals Other chemicals Paper and pulp Other chemicals Petrol refinery Petrol refinery Petrol Petrol Minerals Paper and pulp VOC Industrial chemicals Other chemicals Petrol refinery Petrol Metals Paper and pulp of various manufacturing sectors (Hettige et al., 1998) Table 1-2 groups the various manufacturing industries based on the intensity of gaseous pollution (Hettige et al., 1994; R6sner, 2003) This book focuses on the biochemical treatment of gas, liquid, and solid effluents from a wide range of manufacturing industries such as dye, textile, paint, explosive, semiconductor, metal processing, pharmaceutical, organic chemical, petroleum, food and dairy, paper and pulp, pesticide, sugar and alcohol distillery, and polymer Also discussed is treatment of solid waste, including hospital and municipal waste; ground water decontamination, including fluoride removal; denitrification and biodesulfurization of petroleum; and cyanide degradation Several biodegradation techniques described in the book are still in the research and laboratory stage; in such cases the physical and the chemical treatment techniques are being followed by the relevant industries Although the industries chosen in the book appear to be disjointed, they all are interconnected, as shown in Fig 1-3 For example, effluents produced by organic chemical, pharmaceutical, pesticide, and dye stuff industries all have several common characteristics Tannery, electrochemical, and semiconductor industries have metals in their effluents Dye chemicals are present in textile and tannery effluents Effluents from the food industry may have similar issues (Table 1-3 lists the effluent characteristics of various agriculture-based industries) The book also briefly compares the chemical and physical treatment procedures for these pollutants for the sake of completeness Both aerobic and anaerobic techniques and various types of reactors that have been used for treatment are also discussed in detail This book can be used as a ready reference for physical, chemical, and biochemical treatment of industrial pollutants as well as a source to understand the mechanism of biodegradation of a variety of contaminants 0 LLI o c- o ~'~ ~= o - - o.=_ Introduction ~ 0 r ~,,4 > o g_ "0 ,_Q r o ~0 I-I t~ r l o 9, I ~ r~ o r~ "V:: Eo.*_o Je],eMpun0j9 ~4| D Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents TABLE 1-3 Comparison of Agricultural Industry Effluents Effluent source COD (mg/L) BOD (mg/L) Wool scouring effluent 45,000 17,500 Distillery 60,000 30,000 Dairy 1,800 900 Tannery 13,000 1,270 Textile 1,360 660 620 226 Kraft mill COD, chemical oxygen demand; BOD, biological oxygen demand Major Findings A few broad conclusions can be listed based on the survey carried out by the authors: The majority of the treatment procedures followed by industries is still based on physical and chemical methods Biodegradation techniques are not yet broad based and have several unsolved problems Most of the wastewater from the industries studied is very complex and cannot be treated by a single microorganism, so microbial colonies appear to have good potential Combined methods (physical, chemical, and biological or aerobic and anaerobic) show good potential Biofilters are a cost-effective and ubiquitous reactor for treating VOCs and effluent gasses Dynamic operation (as in sequential batch reactor) is able to achieve very high degradation rates compared with steady state operation Membrane reactors have very good potential, but their cost factor makes them unpopular White rot fungi (or any other extracellular organisms) are effective for general purpose degradation Biosorption using dead surface-modified microorganisms is an effective technique for biodegradation and adsorption of metals from effluent streams The majority of the biodegradation studies reported in the literature have been carried out with synthetic wastewater These findings and conclusions have to be validated with real effluent, which may be more complex Introduction New Research Frontiers A few of the areas that need focused study are: 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 Degradation pathways Water-solvent interaction Use of biosurfactants for enhanced degradation Development of microorganisms tolerant to toxic effluents Development of microorganisms tolerant to principal and secondary pollutants Identification of bacterial consortiums Transport of aromatic compounds through solid and liquid phases Engineering of bacteria to various ecological tasks Determination of enzyme crystal structure Development of analytical tools Development of tools to follow the active organisms Identification of new microorganisms from the environment or from the contaminated sites Identification of novel supports Long-term studies of the effects of pollutants on the ecology and the effects of engineered organisms on the ecosphere Wetland ecosystems References Hettige, H., P Martin, M Singh, and D Wheeler 1994 IPPS: The Industrial Pollution Projection System Policy Research Working Paper, p 1431 Hettige, H., M Mani, and D Wheeler 1998 Industrial Pollution in Economic Development: Kuznets Revisited World Bank Development Research Group Working Paper January No 1876 Macek, T., M Mackova, and J Ka 2000 Exploitation of plants for the removal of organics in environmental remediation Biotech Adv 18( 1):23-34 Mani, M and D Wheeler 1998 In Search of Pollution Havens? Dirty Industry in the World Economy, 1960-95 J Environ Devel 15(9):4043 R6sner, A Pollution, Industrial Composition and Trade, Department of Economics Columbia University, USA, 2003 CHAPTER Environmental Dis asters Environmental disasters occur because of natural or humanmade causes The latter could be due to the release of pollutants into the environment, either accidentally or because of negligence or insufficient knowledge about the material A flood that leads to human and material loss because of the building of a dam can also be considered a humanmade environmental disaster Sometimes it may be difficult to connect a disaster to the cause, but humankind has slowly started realizing that the subsystems in our ecosystem are intricately interconnected and every action can lead to a disaster at a later point in time Droughts, torrential floods, and other environmental disasters cost the world about $70 billion in 2002 (Reuters, 2002) In the United States, the number of incidents related to leakage or spills of chemicals and oil from pipelines, mobile units, storage tanks, railroads, and fixed manufacturing units increased from 25,700 per year in 1991 to 32,200 per year in 2003 (National Response Center, U.S Coast Guard; http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/ nrchp.html) The present generation, which has benefited from past progress, has also inherited past environmental mistakes So it is the responsibility of the current generation to ensure that future generations inherit only the benefits of the progress, that they not inherit any past environmental mistakes, and that the mistakes of the past generations be corrected The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs monitor environmental occurrences (natural and humanmade) around the globe Several of their reports on humanmade disasters are listed in Table 2-1 Pollution abatement expenditures in the European community vary from 0.5 % of GDP in Greece and Spain to 1.6% of GDP in Germany The expenditure in the United Kingdom is about 1.2% of its GDP (1990 data, Ecotec Research and Consulting Co., 1993), whereas the cost of pollution control in Japan is on the order of 2% of its GDP Various Disasters This chapter briefly describes the various disasters that have occurred in the past few years and the problems caused by them The study of various 11 12 Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents TABLE 2-1 Humanmade Environmental Disasters [United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] 2003 2002 2000 1999 1997 1996 Pakistan mOil spill in the Port of Karachi Morocco Inland oil spill Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro Phenol spill into a river system Republic of Djibouti m Toxic chemical spill Nigeria Munitions dump explosion Venezuela~ Mudslides and chemical spill, floods, chemical spill and the organic contamination in the coastal zone Romania, Hungary, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia~ Baia Mare cyanide and heavy metal tailings spill Hungary and Romania Baia Borsa mining waste spill Kenya Aviation fuel spill Chile Acute pollution of the Loa River Somalia~ Hazardous waste, alleged dumping of hazardous substances Philippines ~ Mine tailings spill incidents should help us to develop manufacturing processes that not pollute, evolve safe means of disposing of toxic effluents, and avoid the hazards involved in storing and transporting toxic materials Acid Rain Acid rain is rain with a pH of less than 5.7, which results from high levels of atmospheric nitric and sulfuric acids that get washed down to earth Oxidation of sulfur and nitrogen in coal or other fossil fuels leads to the generation of acidic pollutants in the atmosphere Acid rain has caused considerable damage to forests in many developed countries Use of low-sulfur coal and gasoline can prevent acid rain Carbon Dioxide CO2 is not a pollutant in the conventional sense, since it is essential for plant growth Combustion of fossil fuels, including coal-fired thermal power stations and forest fires, has increased the background levels of CO2 from 315 ppm in 1960 to 405 ppm in 2000, which leads to an atmospheric greenhouse effect, which in turn increases the average temperature O z o n e Layer D e p l e t i o n a n d H u m a n H e a l t h In 1993 the atmospheric ozone layer surrounding the earth thinned to the lowest levels ever recorded With the loss of stratospheric ozone, the atmosphere became more transparent to radiation, resulting in an increase in the a m o u n t of ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation reaching the earth It has been Environmental Disasters 13 found that an increase in UV radiation can lead to an increase in human diseases, including skin cancers, eye damage, and reduction in the effectiveness of the body's immune system White skin is more prone to burning than black or brown skin The Arctic ozone holes within the next 10 to 20 years could affect inhabited areas of northern Europe, Canada, and Russia (New Scientist, Oct 10, 2000) The ozone layer is affected because of emissions from earth and deposition in the stratosphere of compounds such as bromofluorocarbons (halons), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), CO9., nitrogen oxides (NOx), chlorinated carbons, methyl bromide (CHgBr), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N20) CFCs are among the most important ozonedepleting substances; they are used in aerosol propellants, coolant agents in refrigerators, cleaning agents, and plastic foam-blowing agents An international agreement was reached (the Montreal Protocol and its amendments, signed by 148 countries) that banned the production of most CFCs by the year 2000, and the Copenhagen amendment to the Montreal Protocol called for the cessation of HCFC (an alternate to CFCs) production by 2030 Global W a r m i n g ~ Petrol versus Diesel Based on some theoretical studies, it is believed that CO2 produced by petrol engines could be less harmful to the planet than the soot and dust produced by diesel engines A climate model showed that the soot produced by diesel engines will warm the climate more over the next century than the extra CO9 emitted by petrol-powered vehicles In addition, the soot particles would alter the humidity of air by allowing water droplets to condense around them, causing pollutants to accumulate in the air and change weather patterns Hence g of black carbon is 360,000 to 840,000 times as powerful a global warming agent as g of CO9 P o l l u t i o n Reducing S u n s h i n e Airborne pollutants have led to a steady decline in sunshine in vast polluted regions of eastern China The amount of sunshine has fallen by between and % a decade, and the maximum summer temperatures have also fallen by around 0.6~ a decade In Zambia and the Brazilian Amazon, pollution blots out around a fifth of the sun's radiation at certain times of year (Freeman, 1990; N e w Scientist, 2002e) P o l y c h l o r i n a t e d Biphenyls in the E n v i r o n m e n t About 80 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) are produced annually, and they find applications in capacitors, transformer oils, and heat transfer fluids Half the amount is used as plasticizers, hydraulic fluid, and adhesives, as well as in carbon paper About 10 million pounds escape 14 Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents annually and become environmental contaminants These are very stable compounds, not degrade, and accumulate in animal tissues PCBs have been found in polar bears in the Arctic and penguins in Antarctica, creating havoc Killer whales in the Gulf of Alaska are among the most heavily PCB-laden marine mammals in the world, and their numbers are in rapid decline M e t h y l Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) MTBE is an "oxygenate" that makes gasoline burn cleaner and more efficiently, but it is also identified as a probable carcinogen that spreads rapidly when gasoline escapes from leaky underground storage tanks, contaminating sources of groundwater and drinking water from New York to California in the United States At least 16 states already have passed measures to ban or significantly limit the use of MTBE in gasoline E x x o n V a l d e z Spill The grounding of the oil tanker Exxon Valdez on Bligh Reef on March 24, 1989, released almost 11 million U.S gallons of North Slope crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska A major storm a few days later spread the oil into the shorelines of the numerous islands in the western part of the Sound and out into the Gulf of Alaska Bioremediation was carried out by the application of an oleophilic liquid fertilizer, a micro emulsion of a saturated solution of urea in oleic acid containing tri(laureth-4)-phosphate and butoxy-ethanol to stimulate the activity of the oil-degrading bacteria Two weeks after application of the fertilizer, the cobbles on the treated section of the shoreline were substantially clean But most seabird populations hit by the oil spill have not shown signs of recovery even a decade after the disaster (New Scientist, May 2001) Pipeline spills reported to the U.S Department of Transportation average 12 million gallons of petroleum products a year The U.S General Accounting Office says an average of 16,000 small oil spills seep into waterways each year, half of them during loading or unloading operations, and the real number could be three to four times that C y a n i d e Spill a t Baia Mare, M a r c h 2000 On January 30, 2000, following a breach in the tailing dam of the Aurul SA Baia Mare Company, a major spill of cyanide-rich tailings waste from the extraction of precious metals was released into the river system near Baia Mare in northwest Romania The contaminant traveled via tributaries into the Somes, Tisza, and finally the Danube rivers before reaching the Black Sea (UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit, 2000) Environmental Disasters 15 Corals Affected by H u m a n Waste Human wastewater containing undegraded drugs and antibiotics is having a bad effect on the aquatic environment, especially on the corals off the coast of Florida, which form the world's third largest barrier reef (New Scientist, 2002b) It has been found that half of the live coral off the Florida coast has disappeared in the past years The fish that feed on these corals have developed deformities and died in much higher numbers than usual M o v e m e n t of P o l l u t a n t s into Coastal Aquifers Wells located near coasts could be more polluted than the ones located inland because the pollutants dumped into the sea diffuse faster through the soil barrier (they are less soluble in salty water because of the "salting out effect") (New Scientist, 2003b) This phenomenon can be observed in the movement of pollutants from sea to the coastal aquifers mnatural reservoirs of freshwater held in porous rock and also toward coastal agricultural land Chernobyl Accident The Chernobyl accident in the Ukraine in 1986 was the result of a flawed nuclear reactor design The reactor was operated with inadequately trained personnel and without proper regard for safety, leading to a steam explosion and fire that released -~5 % of the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere and downwind of the plant Some 31 people were killed, and there have since been around 10 deaths from thyroid cancer attributed to the accident Bhopal D i s a s t e r On December 2, 1981, more than 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanine (MIC) and other lethal gases, including hydrogen cyanide, leaked from a pesticide factory at the northern end of the Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, India More than 8,000 people were killed, and more than 500,000 people suffered multisystemic injuries Toxic gas exposure was found to have had a detrimental effect on the immune system (Lepkowski, 1985) Bashkiria T r a i n - G a s Pipeline Disaster The Bashkir train-gas pipeline disaster occurred in June 1989 At least 400 people were killed when a pipeline transporting a methane-propane mixture exploded as two trains were passing, causing 400 immediate deaths and more than 800 casualties, mostly with burns (Kulyapin et al., 1990) Seveso D i o x i n A c c i d e n t Dioxins and furans are halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons that are commonly produced by combustion of fossil fuels and incineration of municipal 16 Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents waste, as a byproduct of pulp and paper bleaching, and in the production of other chemicals 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin is the most toxic member of this family It is an endocrine disrupter as well as a potent animal carcinogen and teratogen that persists in both the environment and biological tissues On July 10, 1976, a valve broke at the Industrie Chimiche Meda Societa Azionaria chemical plant in Meda, Italy, releasing about 3,000 kg of dioxin-containing chemicals into the atmosphere Approximately 4% of local farm animals died, and roughly 80,000 animals were killed to prevent the contamination from moving up the food chain It is believed that this exposure affected the sex ratio in future progeny C z e c h Plant Leaked H u n d r e d s of Kilos of Deadly Gas Several hundred kilograms of highly poisonous chlorine gas leaked into the air in an accident at a flooded chemical plant in the Czech Republic on August 23, 2002 The accident happened when workers at Spolana, a unit of the chemicals group Unipetrol, pumped fluid chlorine gas out of a storage unit that had been damaged in the flood There were no casualties in the accident Superfund The Superfund Program in the United States was initiated in 1980, when the Environmental Protection Agency started identifying contaminated sites where hazardous waste was dumped on the land or in the rivers, or buried as landfill by industries, polluting the environment and causing harm to animals and humans (U S Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC) There are over 1,400 Superfund sites across the United States that were contaminated by chemicals such as acetone, benzene, 2-butanone, carbon tetrachloride, chlordane, chloroform, 1,1-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, methylene chloride, naphthalene, pentachlorophenol, PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), tetrachloroethylene, toluene, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride and xylene; metals such as arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, cyanide, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc; and pesticides such as DDT, DDE, and DDD Conclusions Several approaches could be adapted to mitigate environmental disasters such as: Use biodiesel as fuel, and use nonpolluting means of transportation Manage waste properly, and install waste treatment plants in every industry E n v i r o n m e n t a l Disasters 17 Develop processes that generate little or no waste Avoid storage of toxic and hazardous chemicals Determine the toxic nature of all chemicals and materials that are being used by humankind Develop better analytical techniques for monitoring pollution Use environmental resources judiciously Manage hazardous wastes properly Bring about public awareness Society should be willing to bear the extra cost involved in efforts to reduce or eliminate pollution at its source Otherwise we end up paying for cleaning the polluted ecosystem and/or for our medical bills In many cases the long-term impact of pollution on the ecosystem and h u m a n health is not fully understood, and it is too late by the time extra knowledge is gained Estimating the cost of pollution is not easy and straightforward There are several direct and hidden costs: the decrease in the market value of the resource caused by pollution, the cost of pollution prevention or environmental remediation, the cost of the impact of environmental pollution on ecosystems and h u m a n health, and the cost of environmental protection Another important factor is society's "willingness to pay" for the reduction of environmental pollution References Freeman, H 1990 Geograph Res Letters 29:2042 Lepkowski W 1985 Bhopal Chem Eng News, 23 (Dec 2) New Scientist 2002b Future of corals is going down Aug 10 92002e Pollution is plunging us into darkness Dec 14 2003b Seawater pumps pollutants into the coastal aquifers June 17 Bibliography Batterbee, R W., R J Flower, A C Stevenson, and B Rippey 1985 Lake acidification Nature 314:87-88 Clark, R B Marine Pollution 1992.3rd ed Oxford: Clarendon Press Ecotech Research & Consulting, Ltd 1993 A Review of UK Environmental Expenditure: A final report to the Department of Environment London: HMSO Freeman, H (ed.) 1990 Hazardous Waste Treatment and Minimization New York: McGraw-Hill Hawksworth, D and F Rose, 1970 Qualitative scale for estimating SO2 air pollution Nature 227:145-148 Holdgate, M W 1979 A Perspective of Environmental Pollution Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Kiely, G 1998 Environmental Engineering9 Chemical and Petrochemical Engineering Series International Edition New York: McGraw-Hill Kulyapin, A V., V G Sakhahtdinov, V M Temerbulatov, W K Becker, J P Waymack: 1990 The Bashhkiria train/gas pipeline disaster, June 1989 Bashkirian Republic Burns 16: 339-342 18 Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents New Scientist, 2000 Ozone layer thins over Europe Oct 10 ~ ~ 2001 Exxon oil spill still affecting the birds May 2002a Trees cannot solve the problem of global warming April 13 92002c Diesel's dirty green surprise Nov 92002d When is an oil spill an environmental disaster? Nov 30 ~ 2002f Pollution triggers genetic defects Dec 14 ~ 2003a Heat will soar as haze fades Jun Society for General Microbiology 1997 Symposium 48, Microbial Control of Pollution9 Eds J C Fry, G M Gadd, R A Herbert, C W Jones, and I A Watson-Crick Cambridge: Cambridge University Press U N E P / O C H A Environment Unit 2000 U S Environmental Protection Agency  ... various disasters that have occurred in the past few years and the problems caused by them The study of various 11 12 Biotreatment of Industrial Effluents TABLE 2 -1 Humanmade Environmental Disasters. .. is about 1. 2% of its GDP (19 90 data, Ecotec Research and Consulting Co., 19 93), whereas the cost of pollution control in Japan is on the order of 2% of its GDP Various Disasters This chapter briefly... Letters 29 :20 42 Lepkowski W 19 85 Bhopal Chem Eng News, 23 (Dec 2) New Scientist 20 02b Future of corals is going down Aug 10 920 02e Pollution is plunging us into darkness Dec 14 20 03b Seawater pumps