ABSTRACT

According to the Food and Agricultural Foundation of the United Nations (FAO), food production will have to increase by 70% to feed a population of nine billion people by 2050. To reach this goal, agriculture production will have to increase substantially, and as a consequence, measures to avoid a negative impact of the increased use of pesticides in the environment will be required. Even after all precautions are taken, pollution can still result

1Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidad de La Frontera, P.O. Box 54-D, Temuco, Chile. 2Department of Chemical Science, Universidad de La Frontera, P.O. Box 54-D, Temuco, Chile. 3Scientifi c and Technological Environmental Biotechnology Center, Scientifi c and Technological Bioresources Nucleus (BIOREN) and Department of Chemical Engineering and Natural Resources, Universidad de La Frontera, PO Box 54-D, Temuco, Chile. 4Uppsala BioCenter, Department of Microbiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7025, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. *Corresponding author: gbriceno@ufro.cl

from accidental spills or be inherited from past industrial activities. Pollution sites represent a signifi cant risk to human health and other living forms because of their toxicity and persisting presence in the environment; such sites therefore need to be cleaned up.