Antarctic fuel-eating microbes, solution for plastic pollution

Context

A team of Argentine scientists is using microorganisms native to Antarctica to clean up pollution from fuels and potentially plastics in the pristine expanses of the white continent.

What is Bioremediation?

• Bioremediation technologies utilize naturally occurring microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and yeast, to degrade hazardous substances into non-toxic or less toxic substances.
• Simply put, bioremediation tasks involve cleaning soil affected by diesel, using indigenous microorganisms and plants.
• It is a process that can be used in the austral summer and removes some 60-80% of contaminants.

How microorganism clean the pollution?

• The tiny microbes munch through the waste, creating a naturally occurring cleaning system for pollution caused by diesel that is used as a source of electricity and heat for research bases in the frozen Antarctic.
  • The continent is protected by a 1961 Madrid Protocol that stipulates it must be kept in a pristine state.

 Benefits of Bioremediation

• detoxifies hazardous substances instead of merely transferring contaminants from one environmental medium to another
• less disruptive to the environment
• Cost saving