Soiled no more

NATURAL organisms are once again coming to the aid of
humans in rectifying past errors. Soil
pollution, caused by
oil products mainly in
the oil-producing
regions, can now be
overcome by means
of a biological preparation - putidoyl
- consisting of a mixture of tiny
microbes and minerals. The
preparation which was recently
developed at the West Siberian
Scientific Research Geological
Prospecting Institute, is
capable of reducing the soil pollution
and also accelerate the full recultivation
of lands polluted by oil.

Putidoyl works by
splitting the hydrocarbons found in
oils and is environment-friendly,
reducing pollution by about 99 per cent.
The oil-eating microbes are not a
product of genetic engineering; instead,
they are found in the natural
environment. More than
500 ha of polluted areas in the oil-producing regions of
Western Siberia have been recultivated by using putidoyl. Treatment for six
week, made the pollution level come down by 1,000 times.