Environmental Biology Assignment #1 Topic: Submitted To: Submitted by

Environmental Biology
Assignment #1
Topic:
Role of microbes in cleaning the Air
Submitted to:
Dr. Ali Noman
Submitted by:
Iqra Umer
#89050
BS-BOTANY
8th Evening
Government College University

Faisalabad
Role of microbes in cleaning
the Air Pollution
 What is Air pollution?

Air pollution can be defined as the presence of toxic chemicals or
compounds (including those of biological origin) in the air, at levels that
pose a health risk. In an even broader sense, air pollution means the presence
of chemicals or compounds in the air which are usually not present and
which lower the quality of the air or cause detrimental changes to the quality
of life.
 Causes of Air pollution:

Air pollution is probably one of the most serious environmental problems
confronting our civilization today. Most often, it is caused by human
activities such as mining, construction, transportation, industrial work,
agriculture, smelting, etc.
However, natural processes such as volcanic eruptions and wildfires may
also pollute the air, but their occurrence is rare and they usually have a local
effect, unlike human activities that are ubiquitous causes of air pollution and
contribute to the global pollution of the air every single day.
Major causes of air pollution are
 Combustion of fossil fuels.
 Emission from vehicles.
 Deforestation.
 Exhaust from Industrial Plants and Factories.
 Household Activities.
Effects of air pollution:

Air pollution can have serious costs, penalties and consequences for the
health of human beings and also ruthlessly distresses the natural bio-
network and ecosystems.
The main consequences of air pollution are
 Formation of photochemical smog,
 Acid rain,
 Depletion of ozone layer, and
 Aerosol formation.
 Human health:
Air pollution has serious effects on the human health. Depending on the
level of exposure and the type of pollutant inhaled, these effects can vary,
ranging from simple symptoms like coughing and the irritation of the
respiratory tract to acute conditions like asthma and chronic lung diseases.
Skin problems and irritations can develop due to prolonged exposure to
several air pollutants, and a variety of cancer forms may develop after
inhaling air contaminants.
 On environment:
Along with harming human health, air pollution can cause a variety of
environmental effects such as acid rain, depletion of ozone layer, formation
of smog, haze, eutrophication, crop and forest damage etc and the most
importantly global warming.
 Global Warming:
The Earth's atmosphere contains a delicate balance of naturally occurring
gases that trap some of the sun's heat near the Earth's surface. This
"greenhouse effect" keeps the Earth's temperature stable. Unfortunately,
evidence is mounting that humans have disturbed this natural balance by
producing large amounts of some of these greenhouse gases, including
carbon dioxide and methane. As a result, the Earth's atmosphere appears to
be trapping more of the sun's heat, causing the Earth's average temperature
to rise - a phenomenon known as global warming.
 What are Microbes?

The term microbe is short for microorganism, which means small organism.
A microbe is any living organism that spends its life at a size too tiny to be
seen with the naked eye. Microbes include bacteria and archaebacteria,
protists, some fungi and even some very tiny animals that are too small to
be seen without the aid of a microscope. Viruses and the recently
discovered prions are also considered microbes.
 How they are useful in cleaning the environmental
pollution?
Micro-organisms are well known for their ability to break down a huge
range of organic compounds and absorb inorganic substances. Currently,
microbes are used to clean up pollution treatment in processes known as
‘bioremediation’.
Bioremediation uses micro-organisms to reduce pollution through the

biological degradation of pollutants into non-toxic substances. This can
involve either aerobic or anaerobic micro-organisms that often use this
breakdown as an energy source. There are three categories of
bioremediation techniques: in situ land treatment for soil and groundwater;
biofiltration of the air; and bioreactors, predominantly involved in water
treatment.
 Role of microbes in cleaning the polluted air:
Air is polluted by a variety of volatile organic compounds created by a

range of industrial processes. While chemical scrubbing has been used to
clean gases emitted from chimneys, the newer technique of ‘biofiltration’ is
helping to clean industrial gases. This method involves passing polluted air
over a replaceable culture medium containing micro-organisms that degrade
contaminates into products such as carbon dioxide, water or salts.
Biofiltration is the only biological technique currently available to
remediate airborne pollutants.

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Environmental Biology

Government College University

 What is Air pollution?

 Causes of Air pollution:

Effects of air pollution:

 What are Microbes?

Bioremediation uses micro-organisms to reduce pollution through the

 Role of microbes in cleaning the polluted air:

Air is polluted by a variety of volatile organic compounds created by a

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