Composting Essay -- Environment, Waste

Composting process as a means of bioremediating the harmful waste can be assessed in terms of its hygienic aspect since the effect of its quality is indicative of its essentiality and feasibility in the environment. Hygienic relevance of composting is primarily related to the microbes functioning as composters, the dust aerosols in the ambient air of the compost pile, and the type, concentration and state of the waste to be degraded. In terms of its hygienic feature, the compost may pose threat to human health as it generates immune response in living systems possibly triggered by leftover microbes, dust and target compounds to be treated in the compost matter. Although many of the toxins and pathogens are diminished to a great number, the presence of pathogens in the compost might be able to contaminate the food chain as plants get into contact with it. Composting is an acknowledged pathogen reducing technique, but certainly not an eradication system. Also the management of the pr ocess and heterogeneous pile conditions in compost may pose particular challenge concerning the biosafety of this process. Composting has been successfully adopted but enough biological research is lacking on the biosecurity of this process. Accordingly regarding the microbial profile of the compost, the experimental studies and characterization of microbes with respect to hygienic relevance by various scientists are discussed and reviewed as under. Introduction Composting is the process of biodegrading the waste material in which an enormous number of materials like hydrocarbons, nitrogenous compounds, acids, their derivatives and even other organic and inorganic substances can be remediated from the environment (Finstein et al., 1986). Compost pro... ... Studies have shown that the presence of pathogens in a final compost may contaminate the food chain with the incomplete compost product provoking the growth of pathogenic microbes or keeping them alive and vigorous. Most notably, human pathogens like Aeromonas, Aspergillus fumigatus, A. terreus, Cryptosporidium and Giardia cysts, Enterococcus faecalis, Geotrichum candidum, GeoBacillus stearothermophilus, G. thermoglucosidasi, Klebsiella, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas, Saccharomonospora and Saccharopolyspora, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella, Thermoactinomyces, Thermobifida, and Bacillus sp. being thermophilic and sporulating species still persist in a variety of compost. Studies are going on to give a better and ultimate solution view on the parameters for the eradication of various pathogenic strains activated or evolved during the process of composting.