Abstract

TORRI, Silvana Irene; CABRERA, Marisol Natalia  and  ALBERTI, Cecilia. POTENTIAL RESPIRATION DURING THE BIOSTIMULATION OF A SOIL CONTAMINATED WITH AROMATIC POLICYCLIC HYDROCARBONS. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2018, vol.34, n.1, pp.127-136. ISSN 0188-4999.  https://doi.org/10.20937/rica.2018.34.01.11.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are organic compounds that may persist in the environment due to their hydrophobicity and insolubility in water, posing the risk of entering the food chain. Some soil microorganisms are potentially capable of degrading PAHs. The addition of nutrients may accelerate the rate of biodegradation if soil conditions are favorable. The objectives were to study the degradation capacity of native soil microorganisms to degrade selected PAHs in an artificially contaminated soil, and to evaluate the effect of nutrient availability. The influence of the chemical structure of the contaminant was also studied. An incubation assay was performed, using a typic hapludoll soil artificially contaminated with anthracene or phenanthrene. Microbial activity was indirectly estimated through the production of CO2. Soil contamination with anthracene or phenanthrene did not affect the initial soil microbial activity. The total emission of CO2 increased in contaminated soils compared to the pristine ones, due to the degradation of contaminants. At 60 days, soil samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The removal of anthracene and phenanthrene from the soil was different, and it was related to bioavailability. Anthracene and phenanthrene concentration decreased 75 - 77 % or 89 - 91 %, respectively, indicating the ability of native soil microorganisms to rapidly degrade both pollutants. No significant differences were observed between treatments with and without nutrients, concluding that nutrient availability was not a limiting factor for the catabolic activity of soil microorganisms.

Keywords : biodegradation; anthracene; phenanthrene; miroorganisms; soil; PAHs.

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