Petroleum is one of the most sought-after resources on Earth, but it has also become one of the most dangerous to marine life. Over one hundred oil spills have occurred since oceanic oil drilling started in the 1900s, releasing thousands of tons of oil into marine environments. The consequences of these spills devastate marine organisms, leading to mass wildlife deaths and contamination of food supplies, which could reach human consumers. Beyond the immediate destruction, the long-term impacts can linger for decades, as toxins remain in sediments and accumulate in the food chain.

Petroleum contains large amounts of toxic hydrocarbons, chemicals composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. These chemicals are organic, meaning they can interact and disrupt the organic molecules that make up cells. This leads to cell dysfunction, disturbing an animal's biological processes, resulting in death or permanent damage, which can be passed on to future generations. Hydrocarbons are also highly persistent in the environment. When spilled in the ocean, they form slicks that block sunlight from reaching underwater plants and corals, disrupting photosynthesis and reducing oxygen levels for fish and other marine organisms.

Along with hydrocarbons, there are other toxic chemicals in petroleum, like sulfides and nitrides, which have been responsible for acid rain. These compounds, when released into the air or water, do not just harm marine life but can also affect entire ecosystems, corroding infrastructure, damaging forests, and altering the chemistry of soils and rivers. Petroleum spills, therefore, represent a chain reaction of negative effects, spreading far beyond the initial site of contamination.

Due to these toxic chemicals, an oil spill must be addressed swiftly to minimize damage. Physical methods have been used to coagulate and isolate petroleum for easier removal, but they do not reduce the toxicity of the chemicals in the petroleum. Skimmers, floating barriers, and absorbent booms may collect visible oil from the water surface, but dissolved toxins remain, continuing to poison marine ecosystems. Chemical methods have been employed to alter the properties of the chemicals in petroleum, but they come with side effects. One method, such as burning the petroleum, introduces sulfides and CO₂ as air pollutants, trading one kind of pollution for another. Another chemical method involving the addition of metal ions to contaminated water creates secondary pollutants that are themselves harmful to life.

Environmental scientists are now looking into biological methods to remove the toxicity from petroleum. These biological methods, known as bioremediation, involve using an organism to remove toxic factors from an environment and restore habitability. Unlike mechanical or chemical clean-up efforts, bioremediation works with natural processes. It aims not just to remove oil but to transform it into less harmful compounds, completing the cycle of detoxification in a way that mimics how ecosystems heal themselves.

Over the last decade, scientists have found several bacteria and fungi that can break down harmful chemicals like hydrocarbons and remove their toxicity. These discoveries are significant because microorganisms have evolved over millions of years to metabolize organic compounds, and some have adapted to survive in environments contaminated with petroleum. Bioremediation has gained more support from governments and environmental associations due to its low cost, low environmental impact, and lack of secondary pollution seen with chemical methods. Recently, two strains of bacteria were identified from oil-contaminated soil and were tested on their potential for bioremediation of petroleum chemicals.

The two bacteria, Stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila and Ochrobactrum, could survive in soil and sludge contaminated and polluted by petroleum. Researchers tested how effective the two bacteria were at degrading petroleum chemicals and reducing the toxicity of the pollutant. Alone, the bacteria could degrade and remove the toxic chemicals from petroleum, with S. Acidaminiphila purifying an average of 63 percent of petroleum hydrocarbons, and Ochrobactrum purifying an average of 59 percent. When both bacteria were used to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons, the combined average of hydrocarbon removal jumped to 73 percent! These results suggest that different microbial species can complement one another, attacking hydrocarbons from different angles to accelerate the clean-up process.

As the bacteria degraded the petroleum, byproducts were made, but the safety of these byproducts had to be tested. Further tests revealed that the two bacteria had different methods of breaking down complex hydrocarbons, which generated different byproducts after degradation. Despite these different methods, the products made by the two bacteria had much lower toxicities than those produced by chemical methods of petroleum degradation. This is critical, since one of the biggest concerns in oil spill management is ensuring that clean-up efforts do not inadvertently create new environmental hazards.

With their efficiency and ability to degrade petroleum into safe chemicals, S. Acidaminiphila and Ochrobactrum have shown the potential to be used for bioremediation. As more tests are done, the two bacteria could be applied on a larger scale for marine oil spills to mitigate damage and clear the petroleum. Field trials are the next step, where researchers can test how these bacteria perform under real-world conditions, such as varying temperatures, salinity levels, and oxygen availability.

With the abundance of petroleum and petroleum products, like plastics, so prevalent in almost every environment, more microorganisms are being forced to adapt to these toxins and develop ways to degrade them. This natural process of microbial evolution could lead to the discovery of even more species capable of detoxifying hydrocarbons. As environmental scientists improve the application of current petroleum-degrading organisms for large-scale clean-ups, these new organisms could be discovered and researched to determine their compatibility with S. Acidaminiphila, Ochrobactrum, and other petroleum-degraders for bioremediation.

In the future, the goal is not only to respond more effectively to oil spills but also to use bioremediation proactively. Microbes could be deployed in areas at high risk of contamination or even incorporated into engineered systems designed to prevent pollutants from reaching sensitive ecosystems. As global energy systems continue to depend on petroleum, at least for the foreseeable future, bioremediation offers a sustainable and environmentally conscious way to repair the damage caused by one of the world’s most valuable yet destructive resources.