The effects of biosurfactants on the remediation of soils contaminated with pesticides

Biosurfactants are biological agents produced by the microorganisms and they are known to degrade some toxic wastes. Biosurfactants are advantageous when compared with their synthetic counterparts as they are biodegradable i.e. they are non-toxic to the environment. The production of biosurfactants are not costly, and there is a variety of different types of biosurfactants produced by different microorganisms. The research on the remediation of soils contaminated with pesticides is relatively new area and gaining more interest. Turkey’s economy is based on agriculture and pestisides have been applied to agricultural lands very often. When pestisides are applied in soil in excessive doses, they pose contamination of the land and groundwater too. The degradation of toxic wastes and different contaminants are known to occur by the natural microflora of the soil. But, this natural remediation process takes place very slowly and can not be controlled by human. So, this project aims to study the effects of biosurfactants on the remediation of soils under laboratory conditions. We aim to increase the rate of bioremediation by the control of the variables that effect the process in the laboratory. The effects of some variables such as; biosurfactant concentration, pH and temperature will be studied. After successful performance is achieved in the laboratory, the remediation procedures will be carried to the field and probably an effective on-site method for remediation of contaminated soils can be developed based on this study. The application of biosurfactants are not very costly compared with the synthetic methods so an economic bioremediation procedure can be obtained.