Abstract |
The objective of this document is to conduct a comprehensive review of the use of commercial bioremediation products treating oil spills in all environments. Literature assessed includes peer reviewed articles, company reports, government reports, and reports by cleanup contractors engaged in responses to oil spills. The scope of this review is in the general context of estuarine environments. However, marine shorelines, terrestrial environments, freshwaters, and wetlands are frequent candidates for bioremediation of spilled oil, and these ecosystems are also included in the review for completeness. The review will be useful for oil spill responders (e.g., on-scene coordinators and response contractors) to better understand the feasibility of bioremediation technology and as an aid in selecting bioremediation products. This state-of-science review on the efficacy of bioremediation products is conducted using different approaches and presented accordingly as follows. Section 1 provides an overall introduction of the background and the scope of this review. Section 2 presents an in-depth review of field tests of bioremediation products based on the scientific literature, which includes peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and major conference proceedings. Section 3 evaluates oil bioremediation products based on the non-peer reviewed literature articles gathered, such as government agency reports and vendor/service provider reports. Finally, Section 4 gives the conclusions and recommendations based on the reviewed information. |