BIOSACC


	About BIOSACC The project "BIOSORPTION AND BIOACCUMULATION IN THE BIOREMEDIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMPARTMENTS CONTAMINATED WITH PERSISTENT POLLUTANTS" (BIOSACC) addresses the scientific requirement of the call *PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3* emphasizing the need to support and promote fundamental, interdisciplinary and/or exploratory scientific research in Romania so as to assert the international excellence and visibility of scientific research, as well as to identify and support research and development teams to attain, maintain and strengthen their critical mass internationally competitive. Under this context BIOSACC aims to develop advanced research to acquire advanced knowledge in the field of bioremediation of environmental compartments (air, water, soil) contaminated with persistent pollutants and offer cost-effective and environmentally friendly emerging technological alternatives to common non-biological approaches. The project will exploit the potential of non-living and living biomass to immobilize by biosorption, to bioaccumulate and biodegrade persistent contaminants: heavy metals, dyes, persistent organic pollutants, often dissolved as micropollutants, but still above the EU limits. The research will enhance the contribution of biotechnology in the environmental remediation and improve treatment strategies of water resources and aqueous effluents. The selected contaminants cover a broad range of characteristics: solubility, microbial degradability, molecular weight and size. The biomass selected based on a preliminary study and screening, includes microbial dead and living populations and low cost sorbents from vegetable waste. Structured in seven well-integrated work packages, the project aims at exploring the black box of biosorption and bioaccumulation, providing in-depth knowledge on mechanisms, kinetics and thermodynamics, the relations between biomass attributes and contaminant fate. Modeling, simulation, reliability evaluation of the new systems will allow large scale applications. The regulatory, safety, financial and environmental aspects of the processes will be addressed using a life cycle assessment and cost/benefit analysis. Through beyond state-of-the-art research and dissemination, BIOSACC will ensure cost-effective and environmentally friendly remediation alternatives to common non-biological approaches, in a highly transparent and predictable way. The new knowledge developed under BIOSACC will help ensure clean water because it will contribute to the remediation of polluted water resources, which are sometimes the ultimate reservoir for contaminants from air or soil. BIOSACC supports important goals set in Water Framework Directive and Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection. In addition the project will contribute to the implementation of the Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP) by improving efficiency of biological waste water treatment. Impact, relevance, applications The project BIOSACC will contribute to environmental and economic benefits duet o application at new standards of research of environmental biotechnology, which go hand-in-hand to the development of a more sustainable society, a principle which was promoted in the Brundtland Report in 1987, in Agenda 21 of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002 and which has been widely accepted in the environmental policies (EIBE 2000; OECD 2001). BIOSACC will provide research as well as information on the ways to evaluate the risks associated with the impacts induced in the environment by persistent pollutants and presence in various environmental matrices and the selection of best technique for remediation, seen from the viewpoint of removal efficiency, costs and feasibility, life cycle. The achievements concerning biosorption and bioaccumulation applications are important for environmental protection and control and future prospects and new developments in the field, considering the opportunities of environmental biotechnology to contribute with new solutions and directions in remediation and monitoring of contaminated environments, minimizing future waste release and creating pollution prevention alternatives. For long term, the objectives of the research of this project connected to the generation of knowledge will be extended to the transfer of knowledge in economic and social practice and finding technical and scientific solutions that sustain the social development and enhance the human wealth. Through this component, the interdisciplinary characteristic of the project is evidenced, this including research specific to environmental engineering, environmental management, environmental science, ecology, soil science, biology, chemistry, chemical and biological processes engineering, mathematic modeling and information technology. It is expected that the results of the project will contribute to the improvement of policies, strategies and practices for reduction of environmental contamination by persistent pollutants in the member countries of the European Union (EU), particularly in Romania, as well as in the Eastern European countries, being a promoter for an European project within FP7.