ABSTRACT
Air pollution is one of the major problems to be solved over this century. So in recent years, a strong technological base has been developed for air quality control. The driving force has been the public awareness of the need for human health and environmental protection. Consequently, environmental legislation and regulations have been initiated by governments to control air quality. Removing air pollutants from industrial gaseous emissions is achieved by different physical and chemical ways like the transfer and/or concentration of compounds in a liquid phase (condensation, absorption) or onto a solid (adsorption) or by the destruction of molecules by thermal and catalytic incineration. However, more recently new treatment alternatives have been developed, involving the biological degradation of pollutants present in the gaseous phase. Thus, these microbial systems can remove a large number of molecules, especially volatile organic compounds (VOC) and odorous molecules. Such systems present several advantages, among which is their high efficiency and low cost. Moreover, the treatment of polluted air in bioreactors allows the complete degradation or transformation of the contaminants. As a result of microbial metabolism, the pollutants are degraded into carbon dioxide and water or converted into cell biomass.
