USE OF MICROORGANISMS IN BIOREMEDIATION OF SOILS CONTAMINATED AS A RESULT OF MILITARY ACTIONS

As a result of military activities, soils are contaminated with substances from explosives and firearm mechanisms, fuel, lubricants, and heavy metals, all of which have detrimental effects on ecosystems. This article analyzes the main methods of bioremediation for such contaminated soil. The use of soil slurry reactors, land farming technique, composting, biostimulation, bioaugmentation, and immobilized microorganisms can eliminate up to 99% of toxic substances through natural or introduced microbiota. The duration of the cleanup process ranges from several weeks to several years, depending on the remediation method, climatic conditions, and the level of contamination. The use of combined methods is promising. The remediation is achieved through various mechanisms, including the complete or partial breakdown of substances with their transformation into non-toxic forms (explosives, petroleum products), bioaccumulation, biosorption, bioprecipitation, and bioreduction (heavy metals). Both aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms participate in bioremediation, with representatives from the genera Pseudomonas, Clostridium, Bacillus, Serratia, Stenotrophomonas, Arthrobacter, Rhodococcus, Cellulomonas and others most frequently described in the literature. Further search for strains capable of simultaneously cleaning the soil from multiple types of pollutants is necessary.