Oil-Eating Microbes: Are They Really Safe?

Dry, dormant petroleum-oxidizing microbes (below, left) are utilized by the ton by bioremediation contractors. A technician applies dry microbes directly (below, right) into the petroleum-polluted water of a flooded utility manhole at a Philadelphia Electric Company site in Pennsylvania.

Today's reputable bioremediation materials do not contain any hazardous substances and do not produce any hazardous substances. Their microbes are all naturally-occurring, soil-dwelling species. That is, they are not genetically engineered mutants. More importantly, the same microbes are non-pathogenic and cannot interact with human tissue in a harmful manner. In this regard, they are no different than the thousands of other species of soil and airborne microbes you encounter in and around your home every day. For instance, a handful of earth from your garden or window box contains millions of non-pathogenic micro-organisms.

Overall, bioremediation materials are environmentally innocuous substances. They contain dried microbes, organic nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen and other non-regulated, non-hazardous organic materials such as bran binder and the products of fermentation. They have no significant impact on the land or aquatic ecosystems where they are used.

Nor can bioremediation microbes used on soil or in water "get loose" to invade and eat all the petroleum in a fuel tank or oil well. The reason has to do with basic biology. In order to survive, the microbes must be in direct contact with large amounts of water and constantly replenished oxygen. Neither of these two critical elements are present in oil tanks or underground oil deposits.

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