With the rapid development of biotechnology and the increasing demand for sustainable development, the application of probiotics has expanded from traditional human health to environmental management. They have shown unique advantages in water purification, soil remediation, solid waste treatment, and air purification, becoming an important part of green biotechnology.
1. Water Purification: Probiotics improve water quality by degrading ammonia nitrogen, sulfides, and organic matter, and through ecological regulation to suppress harmful algae. For instance, specific bacterial combinations in aquaculture ponds can significantly reduce ammonia nitrogen and increase the survival rate of fish fry, and microbial agents have also shown remarkable effects on urban black and odorous waters and industrial wastewater.
2. Soil Remediation: Probiotics repair soils contaminated with heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, and pesticide residues through mechanisms such as biosorption and secretion of degrading enzymes. For example, an oil field used Bacillus subtilis to reduce the total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in the soil from 4500mg/kg to 800mg/kg within six months.
3. Solid Waste Treatment: Probiotics can accelerate the composting process of organic waste and reduce the emission of harmful gases. Scientists are also exploring new directions for plastic degradation, such as using PETase enzymes secreted by bacteria to degrade film plastics, achieving the resourceization of waste.
4. Air Purification: Probiotics can be used for indoor air purification and in special scenarios such as odor control in livestock farms and pathogen control in hospitals, improving air quality and living conditions.
These applications demonstrate the potential of probiotics in environmental management. The environmental application of probiotics is evolving from an auxiliary method to a core technology. The integration of probiotics with technologies such as nanomaterials and artificial intelligence will promote pollution control into the "precision biotechnology era."
