Environmental biotechnology

Environmental biotechnology uses organisms, cells, or biological processes to prevent pollution, treat waste, and restore contaminated environments.

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Bioremediation: The use of organisms or their biological products to remove, contain, or neutralize environmental contaminants. It applies biological activity directly to contaminated sites and materials.
Biodegradation: The breakdown of substances by living organisms, especially microorganisms. It is a principal route by which biological treatments transform organic pollutants.
Microbial ecology: The study of interactions among microorganisms and between microbes and their environments. Treatment performance depends on microbial communities interacting with pollutants and one another.
Chemical oxidation: The use of oxidizing agents to transform or destroy chemical contaminants. It can act faster than biological treatment but often requires chemical inputs.
Natural attenuation: The reduction of contaminant concentrations or risks through naturally occurring physical, chemical, and biological processes. Its monitoring helps determine whether an engineered biological intervention is necessary.
Wastewater treatment: The removal of contaminants from wastewater before its reuse or release into the environment. Biological treatment processes are central to many municipal and industrial systems.
Biotransformation: The chemical modification of a compound by an organism or biological system. Pollutants can become less harmful, more mobile, or more persistent after biological conversion.
Biogeochemistry: The study of chemical, geological, and biological processes that cycle elements through Earth systems. It explains how biological treatment alters contaminant and nutrient cycles.
Activated carbon adsorption: The capture of dissolved contaminants on the porous surface of activated carbon. It removes pollutants by binding them rather than biologically transforming them.
Bioremediation field trial: A controlled or monitored test of biological remediation under real site conditions. Field trials reveal whether laboratory performance survives complex site conditions.