Wet detoxification has traditionally been seen as the most promising technology for treating chromium-contaminated sites. However, the addition of chemicals in the wet detoxification process not only increases the cost but also introduces extra pollutants. Moreover, the chromium-containing slag may be re-dissolved in the form of Cr(VI), and the increased concentration of Cr(VI) results in a serious "returning to yellow" phenomenon in the chromium-contaminated sites, causing undesirable secondary pollution. Microbial remediation is a promising technology to address the re-dissolution of chromium-containing slag after wet detoxification, and this article reviews the advances in this area. Firstly, the toxicity, current situation and conventional technologies for treating the chromium-containing slag were briefly summarized. The mechanisms of the inevitable re-dissolution of chromium-containing slag after wet detoxification were summarized. Three main mechanisms, namely bioreduction, biosorption and biomineralization, which are involved in the environmental-friendly and efficient microbial remediation technology, were reviewed. The variation of microbial species and the succession of microbial community during the bioremediation of chromium-contaminated sites were discussed. Finally, future research directions were prospected with the aim to develop long-term, stable and sustainable technologies for remediating the chromium-contaminated sites.
Keywords: bioremediation mechanism; chromium-containing slag; microbial remediation; wet detoxification.