JRW Bioremediation LLC, in partnership with Archer Daniels Midland Co., has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded a patent to the two companies for LactOil soy microemulsion. This renewable product enables environmental professionals to cost-effectively clean up soil and ground water contaminated by chlorinated solvents, metals, nitrates and perchlorates.

LactOil is a soy-based product containing five functional ingredients designed to stimulate bacteria already residing in the environment to degrade and remove toxic pollutants from ground water, thus restoring these valuable resources. LactOil is biodegradable, and is exclusively derived from corn and soybeans.

The U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that in the U.S. alone there are more than 217,000 contaminated sites that require remediation. LactOil is said to be able to be used to treat 18 of the top 20 most frequently occurring ground water contaminants found at hazardous waste sites, including trichloroethylene (TCE) a common degreasing solvent, perchlorethylene (PCE) the most widely used dry-cleaning solvent, ammonium perchlorate, found in solid rocket fuel and munitions, and hexavalent chromium (Cr+6).