Remediation of Lindane from Environment – an Overview

Lindane has been used historically as a broad spectrum pesticide in agricultural, livestock, forestry, veterinary and human health applications. Several factors have contributed to concern over the production and use of lindane including its properties of persistence, toxicity, bioaccumulation and potential for long-range transport. During the last two decades, extensive attention has been paid on the cleanup of environment polluted with this hazardous material. A number of methods have been developed for the removal of lindane from soil and water such as sorption by activated carbon, remediation by nanoparticles, photocatalysis, biocatalytic dechlorination, phytoremediation, biosorption and microbial degradation. Among all these methods, microbial degradation offers an effective approach to remove such toxicant from the environment. This article provides a selective overview of the achievements and present scenario of remediation studies carried out using bacteria, fungi, algae and actinomycetes as potential agents for removal of lindane and its isomers from contaminated soil and water.