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Frequently Asked Questions About Micro-Blaze®
Products
How many microbes in one gallon of product?
- There are approximately 400 billion in one
gallon of our Micro-Blaze Emergency Liquid Spill Control® product .
In our Micro-Blaze Out® firefighting agent, there are about 200
billion per gallon. Micro-Blaze® FOG has a minimum of 700
billion microbes in a gallon.
- Strict quality control measures ensure our customers receive
plenty of viable microbes in a quality product that will work on
organic and hydrocarbon contaminants.
What is a surfactant?
- Surfactants make water
"wetter" by breaking down the surface tension. It also
emulsifies hydrocarbon-based compounds, breaking them down into more
manageable molecules that the microbes can then more efficiently
digest.
What are nutrients?
- Sometimes called "biocatalyst", it is
comprised of substances that help support the growth and
reproduction of the microbes; like "vitamins" for us. Our
biocatalyst is called Budkicker.
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- What is a microbe?
-
- It is a microscopic organism - bacteria.
Micro-Blaze® microbes are found naturally in the world's soils; we
select those strains that show exceptional degradation of household
and industrial hydrocarbon and organic wastes.
What kind of microbes are in Micro-Blaze
products?
- Bacillus
spores - they
are a facultative microbe. That means they have the ability to
degrade contamination in aerobic ("using oxygen ") or
anaerobic ("not using oxygen") conditions. Degradation is
much quicker in aerobic conditions. Micro-Blaze® microbes are also
unique in their ability to "go dormant" when no water is
present -- when moisture returns (there is rainfall or water is
reapplied) -- the microbes "reawaken" or germinate,
from their spore form and start digesting the contaminants once more.
With other microbes, called vegetative, once water is gone,
they die away.
Will these microbes harm our wetlands?
Bacillus spores, in all
likelihood, are already present in the soils and waterways of
wetlands. They are very tolerant of seawater and brackish water and
could "be considered the dominant species of the world's
oceans."1
If they are already in the wetlands, why not use
the existing microbes there to clean up any contamination?
- The indigenous, or existing, microbes are accustomed to existing in the normal wetlands
ecosphere, digesting the typical flora and fauna wastes found in
such places under normal circumstances. When an oil spill or other
hydrocarbon / organic contamination enters the wetlands, the
microbes present are neither in large enough numbers to start
digesting the influx of material nor are they adapted to digesting
that particular type of waste. They either die off from the
concentration of the contamination or become so reduced in number
that it could take years before the surviving populations become
large enough and acclimated enough to start effectively remediating
the waste.
-
- Micro-Blaze® products' several strains of Bacillus
microbes have been selected from the world's soils where they showed
aggressive degradation of hydrocarbon and other modern,
organic-based wastes. Whether they are oversprayed onto an oil spill
or used to clean up a benzene tank, they work synergistically to
digest the pollutants effectively and efficiently.
What are some differences between Micro-Blaze products and other
microbial products?
-
With some products, you have to mix the microbes with water, and them
let them sit for 24 hours before they can be used. This doesn't help an
emergency response situation where seconds count.
-
Micro-Blaze® products are shipped concentrated, ready to dilute to
your specific needs and applied immediately. The microbes only take a
few minutes to "awaken" and begin digesting their food source
-- your contamination problem.
Some microbial products contain vegetative microbes that do not have the
ability to revert to a "spore" form when conditions become
unfavorable. Micro-Blaze® microbes will revert to a "spore"
form and will "germinate" when conditions become better; and upon
recognizing that a food source is still present, will again start digesting
wastes and pollution.
What is the difference between microbial products and enzyme
products?
-
Enzymes will liquefy a waste; it will not digest it. All an
enzyme product will do is change the form of the waste. Microbes produce
their own enzymes which help the microbes to digest the waste, changing
it into harmless byproducts of carbon dioxide and water. You can have an
enzyme product with out microbes. However, without the
microbes there is no bioremediation process.
- Enzyme products also have to rely on strong perfumes to cover up foul
odors emitting from organic sources. Micro-Blaze® products do have a
perfume, but it is the effective digestion of the organic source which helps
to remove the odor, making the area more
pleasant in which to work and play.
-
- Will the microbes in Micro-Blaze® products
mutate?
- No. After a site is remediated, the microbial populations return
to a level consistent with the amount of food and water available by
dying off or returning to a spore state.
- Will Micro-Blaze® products kill grass?
-
No.
- Will the microbes eat dirt or metals?
-
No -- metals and dirt are not carbon-based organics.
- Will the microbes eat my asphalt
roadway?
-
No. Due to the density of the material on a road or paved surface, it
would take a very, very long time before anything occurred. The product is to be
washed off the paved areas with water. The microbes cannot digest
contaminants without water. The gasoline or other fuel and chemical
spills on the asphalt is the cause for concern; those compounds can pit
and deteriorate a road surface quickly.
How long does it take the microbes to eat a gallon of oil?
-
It all depends on surface area, oxygen, water and nutrients. If it is
in a gallon bucket, it will take a very long time (unless you have
aeration equipment, plenty of water and have monitoring for nutrients).
If it is spread thin, like on a roadway, it may be digested in a very
short time with favorable conditions.
-
Microbes are like people -- they do best with plenty of water, a food
source and oxygen. The gallon of oil would best be treated with 1 quart
of Micro-Blaze Emergency Liquid Spill Control® diluted with 10 gallons of water in a 55-gallon drum and
aerated. If the gallon of oil is spilled along a roadside, good results
have been obtained with a 3% solution of Micro-Blaze® oversprayed on the
spill from water-type fire extinguisher or even a garden-style sprayer.
There is usually good air exchange and natural rainfall keep the
microbes digesting the waste. No need to "dig and haul" in
these cases.
- Will the microbes eat my oil reserves in the
ground?
- No. The microbes do not have enough oxygen or water in pure oil.
They will not seep into and digest oil in oil holding areas.
- Is Micro-Blaze on any kind of "approved for
use" listings with government agencies?
- Yes, Micro-Blaze® is listed for use in many US states and a
number of countries. Micro-Blaze® is on the U.S. EPA National
Contingency Plan [NCP] as a bioremediation agent. Click
here. Micro-Blaze Emergency Liquid Spill Control® and Micro-Blaze®
F·O·G have been tested and Certified by NSF International.
On what types of compounds will Micro-Blaze® products work?
- Benzene
- Petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, motor oils
- Aviation fuels such as: JP-8, JP-5, av-gas
- Glycols (antifreeze compounds)
- MTBE
- PAHs, TCE
- Methanol
- Toluene, acetone and paint sludge
- Polyurethane resins wastes
- Condensate from pipelines
- Organics such as greases, fats,
- Restaurant greases, oily residues, cellulose waste
- AFFF wastes
- Odious odors from toilet holding
tanks of boats, RVs, trains, buses, porta-pottis, latrines
at parks and other remote sites
1: Sonenshein, Al, etal. 1993. Bacillus subtilis and Other
Gram-Positive Bacteria. AMS. Washington, D.C., page 12.
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