Paper

Degradation Efficiency and Bacterial Species in Soil Polluted with Used Motor Oils, Treated By Composting with Yard Trimmings and Phytoremediation with Lolium perenne


Authors:
Julio Flores; Raymundo López; Neftalí Rojas-Valencia; Mabel Vaca-Mier; Luisa Escobar-Alvarado
Abstract
Soil pollution by the application of used motor oils is a major environmental issue related to inappropriate handling and illegal dumping of industrial waste. A combined alternative biological treatment that focuses on composting the polluted soil with yard trimmings, followed by phytoremediation with Lolium perenne (common grass) was studied. After a 9-week composting process, a 12% degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) present in motor oil was achieved. An additional 50% decrease in TPHs was reached after planting Lolium perenne. At the conclusion of the study, the combined treatment (composting with yard trimmings followed by L. perenne phytoremediation) demonstrated the highest microbial count, 2.8 x 107 CFU, a finding ten times greater than the level observed in the (non-treated) control soil. Moreover, four different bacterial species -- Bacillus brevis, Azotobacter vinelandii, Stenotrophomanas maltophilia, and Burkholderia cepacia – all, capable of degrading hydrocarbons, were found in soil treated with the combined technologies, in contrast to only two different species observed in the control sample.
Keywords
Composting; Soil Pollution; Motor Oil; Phytoremediation; Oil-Degrading Bacteria
StartPage
72
EndPage
78
Doi
10.18005/JAEB0302004
Download | Back to Issue| Archive