BACTERIAL PATHOGENS

One thing must be made perfectly clear. United-Tech, Inc. bioremediation projects do not employ known disease-causing (pathogenic) bacteria for the cleanup of contaminated sites-ever! Many materials, when misused, can become toxic or deadly. Common table salt is lethal in large-enough dosage, and pure water or air injected into the bloodstream can cause instantaneous death. Water, salt, and air are not commonly considered to be toxins or deadly, but situations can arise in which they become so. Likewise, virtually any microbe can kill a host if improperly administered.

In the first place, common pathogenic microbes are of no use in bioremediation. Second, the presence of virulent pathogens at a particular site is the result of prior human or animal vector contact and is not initiated through bioremediation practice. Third, pathogens that may reside in soils and groundwater at a particular site are not stimulated through application of United-Tech, Inc. bioremediation technology, because their basic nutritional requirements cannot be provided there. Fourth, as the reading of any introductory text on microbiology will reveal, they require human or animal vector internal physical environment near 99° F [37.2°C] in order to germinate, reproduce, and cause infection. Fifth, the soil and groundwater environments (being completely foreign to the requirements of pathogens) will simply not support their biochemical needs.

It might also be pointed out that farming is a common practice that entails the intimate contact of humans with the soil and groundwater. Farming also uses the excrement of domestic animal for soil conditioning and to stimulate the growth of soil microbes for nutrient transport and cycling. Precautions against pathogens do not constitute a high priority by those working in agriculture because of the facts described above.