Ecotoxicological evaluation of diesel-contaminated soil before and after a bioremediation process

Abstract

Evaluation of contaminated sites is usually performed by chemical analysis of pollutants in soil. This is not enough either to evaluate the environmental risk of contaminated soil nor to evaluate the efficiency of soil cleanup techniques. Information on the bioavailability of complex mixtures of xenobiotics and degradation products cannot be totally provided by chemical analytical data, but results from bioassays can integrate the effects of pollutants in complex mixtures. In the preservation of human health and environment quality, it is important to assess the ecotoxicological effects of contaminated soils to obtain a better evaluation of the healthiness of this system. The monitoring of a diesel-contaminated soil and the evaluation of a bioremediation technique conducted on a microcosm scale were performed by a battery of ecotoxicological tests including phytotoxicity, Daphnia magna, and nematode assays. In this study we biostimulated the native microflora of soil contaminated with diesel by adding nutrients and crop residue (corn straw) as a bulking agent and as a source of microorganisms and nutrients; in addition, moisture was adjusted to enhance diesel removal. The bioremediation process efficiency was evaluated directly by an innovative, simple phytotoxicity test system and the diesel extracts by Daphnia magna and nematode assays. Contaminated soil samples were revealed to have toxic effects on seed germination, seedling growth, and Daphnia survival. After biostimulation, the diesel concentration was reduced by 50.6%, and the soil samples showed a significant reduction in phytotoxicity (9%-15%) and Daphnia assays (3-fold), confirming the effectiveness of the bioremediation process. Results from our microcosm study suggest that in addition to the evaluation of the bioremediation processes efficiency, toxicity testing is different with organisms representative of diverse phylogenic levels. The integration of analytical, toxicological and bioremediation data is necessary to properly assess the ecological risk of bioremediation processes.

Phytotoxicity Effect of Spent Oil on Jatropha curcas Seedlings used in Soil Phytoremediation

“…Molina-Barahona et al, (2005) inferred that it could also be due to the impermeability effect of the fuel, the immobilization of nutrients mainly nitrogen and by inhibitory effects of some of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon components. Various studies have shown that the dynamics of solubilization and ionic exchange in soils have been negatively affected under the influence of Spent Lubricating Oil (Odjegba and Sadiq, 2002).…”

The Oxidative Stress Response of Mirabilis jalapa to Exhausted Engine Oil (EEO) during Phytoremediation

“…It has been suggested that the study of plant tolerance during the phytoremediation processes may serve as an important feature toward decontamination [15]. In this regard, many studies have been conducted to evaluate the plant response in terms of traditional growth parameters (root length, shoot length, and dry weight) and biochemical/molecular analysis [16][17]. The research conducted on biochemical assays appears to be promising for better understanding of plant responses to toxic environments [18].…”

Impact of hydrocarbons from a diesel fuel on the germination and early growth of subantarctic plants

“…Given the mode of action of hydrocarbon toxicity discussed above and in past research [12,38,[46][47][48], root growth was expected to be the most sensitive endpoint as roots are in direct contact with contaminated soil. In contrast, inhibition of shoot growth is thought to arise, not only from direct contact with hydrocarbons, but also as a result of systemic shock of translocation of hydrocarbons to stems [46]. Unexpectedly shoot growth was less adversely affected on the low than on the high OC soil.…”