How to Use Bacteria to Clean up Oil Spills
Oil spills are an environmental catastrophe causing untold damage to a vast array of wildlife, such as birds, whales, otters, seals and eagles. Unfortunately, the effects of oil spills can last for decades. Cleanup efforts often encounter great difficulty trying to remove all of the oil from an area. Fortunately, scientists have discovered that bacteria can be used to clean up oil spills, since some bacteria survive and thrive by eating oil.
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Things You'll Need
- Oil-eating bacterium, such as alcanivorax borkumensis
- Nitrogen or phosphorous fertilizers
- Floating booms
Instructions
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How to Use Bacteria to Clean up Oil Spills
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Contain the oil on the water's surface using floating booms. Historically, oil spills primarily occur when an oil tanker crashes and spills oil into the water. Containment of the spill should therefore start with keeping the oil from spreading throughout the ocean. The University of Delaware Sea Grant program explains that booms prevent oil spills from spreading out and getting into sensitive areas such as fish hatcheries. Booms additionally minimize the amount of shoreline that gets exposed to oil, so bacteria will not need to be applied to as great of an area.
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Introduce oil-eating bacteria, such as alcanivorax borkumensis, to the oil spill, particularly along oil-saturated sand and coastlines. Since some bacteria survive by eating oil, introducing these bacteria to oil spills will reduce and contain damage. The bacteria then break down oil into less harmful substances, such as carbon dioxide and water. Purchase products such as Spillremed, which was recently developed to help with oil spills in the ocean . Apply by spraying on top of the water surface or sprinkle it directly over ground spills. Sarva Bio Remed manufactures and sells Spillremed, and anyone can order their products online or over the phone.
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Add fertilizer to help the bacteria grow faster and eat up more oil. Nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizers encourage oil-eating bacteria, according to the MIT Technology Review. Fertilizers help natural bacteria already in the ground and oil and they also help stimulate bacteria introduced during cleanup efforts.
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Tips & Warnings
Scientists in Europe are currently developing bacteria designed to eat up specific pollutants, including oil. Check recent advances in science that may offer more effective oil-eating bacteria.
There is some debate regarding the effects of using bacteria to clean up an oil spill. Some scientists believe that the bacteria are harmless and simply die when they run out of oil, but others worry that they may produce some harmful byproducts, like toluene. Keep these factors under consideration, making sure to consult experts as needed.
References
- BBC News: Oil Spills: What is the Long-Term Damage?
- University of Delaware Sea Grant Program: How do you clean up an oil spill?
- National Health Museum Access Excellence: Cleaning Up Wastes
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology Technology Review: Better Bugs for Oil Spills
- Environmental Protection Agency: Spillremed (Marine)
Resources
- Photo Credit oil platform image by michael langley from Fotolia.com
