| Abstract Title: | Reducing Environmental Toxic Mercury Expression with Transformative Microbes and Oxygen Transfer Nano Bubbles |
| Presenter Name: | Michael Radicone |
| Company/Institution: | i2 air fluid innovation, inc |
| Session: | Mercury in Marine Ecosystems |
| Day and Session: | Thursday 28th July - Session Four |
| Start Time: | 15:00 UTC |
| Co-Authors: | Michael Radicone |
Abstract Information :
Methylmercury is a toxin whose concentrations in fish has increased over the last century. This is due to elevated industrial discharges and global warming, due to climate change, affecting coastal fishing areas and aquaculture. Through consumption, humans are exposed to amounts that typically exceed the U.S. EPA?s human health criterion of 0.3 ppm. Methylmercury is presented to the aquatic environment through discharges containing mercuric compounds and the presence of environmental methylating microbes. These anaerobes are released into and naturally found within the environment where they cause methylation and solubilization of mercuric compounds providing an ingestion pathway and tissue bioaccumulation.
Wastewater and septic systems use microbial digestion to break down waterborne components offering a potential treatment vehicle. Used for wastewater applications, a unique blend of proprietary microbes may offer the means for mercuric transformation. The microbes are naturally occurring aerobic, digestive bacillus that are mercury tolerant and harvested to generate copious mercuric reductase enzymes (MerA). These enzymes use an electron transfer to convert soluble toxic mercury into insoluble inert allowing for gravitational descent and reduced ingestion. The microbes, whether planktonic or inactive biomass, and fluid borne MerA enzymes are discharged into the aquatic environment for ingestion. There is a fluid borne mercuric transformation with independent testing indicating the conversion of 80,000 ppb toxic mercury to under 200 ppb within 24 hours.
These bacteria are digestible aquatic probiotics that benefits the fish?s digestive tract while hindering pathogenic microbes. To induce microbial health, growth, replication and enzyme generation, a low dose oxygen transfer bio-organic catalyst is added. This provides oxygen nano bubbles which increases fluid DO, breaks organic bonds, hampers anaerobes and has shown to hasten mercury transformation.
This blend would be used for land-based wastewater systems, marine septic and greywater systems, contaminated soil applications and used as a food additive in aquaculture.
