[en] Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of persistent organic compounds that tend to accumulate in the environment. Because of their potential (geno)toxicity and heavy presence in former industrial areas (Keith 2015), PAHs have been the centre of many remediation studies over the past decades.
As an alternative to environmentally aggressive, expensive and often disruptive soil remediation strategies, experiences have been carried on to understand and develop techniques based on bioremediation and phytoremediation, which rely on the use of living microorganisms or plants to remediate pollutions in soil.
Because it is now well-known that the most important limiting factor to PAHs bioremediation is their bioaccessibility (Johnsen et al. 2015), the objective of the study was to investigate the effect of two plants (Medicago sativa L. and Trifolium pratense L.) on PAHs bioaccessibility in an aged-contaminated soil throughout a long-term rhizoremediation trial.
Therefore aged-contaminated soil samples were cultured with each plant-type, in pots, for 3, 6 and 12 months, and compared to untreated soil. Each modality was repeated five times. Bioaccessible and residual PAHs contents were quantified in soil samples at the end of each culture period using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorimetric Detection (HPLC-FLD).
The general rhizoremediation results show that (i) M. sativa L. plants developed better than T. pratense L. plants on the contaminated soil, (ii) when plants are small or absent, PAHs residual contents globally dissipate faster from the rhizosphere, and bioaccessible contents increase a little faster.
Johnsen AR, Wick LY, Harms H. 2005. Principles of microbial PAH-degradation in soil. Environ Pollut. 133(1):71–84. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2004.04.015.
Keith LH. 2015. The Source of U.S. EPA’s Sixteen PAH Priority Pollutants. Polycycl Aromat Compd. 35(2–4):147–160. doi:10.1080/10406638.2014.892886.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Davin, Marie ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Chimie des agro-biosystèmes
Colinet, Gilles ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Echanges Eau-Sol-Plantes
Fauconnier, Marie-Laure ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Chimie des agro-biosystèmes
Language :
English
Title :
Rhizoremediation of an aged-contaminated soil with two Fabaceae: impact on PAHs bioaccessibility.
Publication date :
31 January 2020
Event name :
25th National Symposium for Applied Biological Sciences (NSABS)