The industrial approach implemented for removal of toxic elements in water, soils and sludges, in spite of its importance in a global society that is increasingly aware of the sensitivity of the environment, is a very costly enterprise. Bioremediation, in which plants and other living organisms capable of tolerating, transforming, and bio-accumulating toxic species are used for the same purpose, is becoming an attractive alternative due to their reduced complexity and lower costs. The development of bioremediation procedures involves:
i) the study of the living individuals (plants, bacteria, nematodes, etc.) under conditions of toxic contaminant chemical species;
ii) the effect of the genetic manipulation for the enhancement of the process efficiency;
iii) the immobilization of the contaminants and/or the reuse of the remediation byproducts, as could be the bio-mining among others.
The study of the bioremediation methods demands the development of analytical procedures for the determination of the toxic species in the different phases: environmental monitoring, control of the process and final byproducts. It is the aim of this issue to cover all of the mentioned aspects of the bioremediation process of toxic species, such as organic and inorganic arsenicals, mercury compounds, as well lead, tallium, cadmium, chromium, rare earths, uranium and other elements and their species.
Original research paper or reviews are invited in the following and related areas:
- Bioremediation of toxic elements in waste water using plants, bacteria and other living organism
- Bioremediation of soils and sludges
- In-field applications of bioremediation
- Development of analytical methodologies related to bioremediation studies
- Bioremediation and chemical speciation and fractioning
- Genetic and the enhancement of the bioremediation efficiency
- Fate of bioremediation byproducts
- Bio-mining
- Toxicological studies of the elements and effects on the living individuals used for bioremediation
Deadline for paper submission: 31 December 2010
First turn of papers review: 28 February 2011
Second turn of papers review: 30 April 2011
Final papers submission: 31 May 2011
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