Surfactant-Enhanced Bioremediation

Hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs) often exhibit limited bioavailability to microorganisms and can persist in the subsurface for long periods of time. The use of surfactants has been proposed to enhance the effectiveness of both in-situ bioremediation and ex-situ slurry-reactor bioremediation by increasing HOC bioavailability. However, the fate of HOCs in response to surfactant addition at both the laboratory and field scale is difficult to predict; in some cases, surfactants sometimes even inhibit HOC biodegradation. The objective of this review is to identify factors that influence the effectiveness of surfactant-enhanced bioremediation (SEB) of soils contaminated with HOCs.