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Big clean up

According to research from the University of Essex, micro-organisms can break down many chemicals that occur in petroleum when oxygen is present. These microbes come about naturally in coastal mudflats – making them potentially useful in cleaning up oil spills.

For example, where oxygen is present (aerobic conditions), benzene, toluene and naphthalene were rapidly degraded in trials. This means, in a healthy marine ecosystem where the water is oxygenated, petrochemical contamination could be biodegraded by micro-organisms. But, in a contaminated environment, oxygen is quickly depleted, and contamination will persist.

"Our work shows that microbes are very versatile and can live on most types of chemicals" said study leader, Dr Efe Aganbi, "More work is needed to identify bacteria in these mud sediments as little is known about the range of bacteria present. Estuaries are ideal locations for refineries and petrochemical facilities – it is essential that mudflats are preserved to provide a natural clean-up area for pollution".

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