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Biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Mangrove Sediments Under Different Strategies: Natural Attenuation, Biostimulation, and Bioaugmentation with Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1

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Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are pollutants that occur in mangrove sediments. Their removal by bacteria often depends on specific characteristics as the number of benzene rings they possess and their solubility. Their removal also depends on environmental factors, such as pH, temperature, oxygen, and the ability of the endogenous or exogenous microflora to metabolize hydrocarbons. With the aim of treating mangrove sediments polluted by hydrocarbons in a biological way, a biodegradation experiment was conducted using mangrove sediments artificially contaminated with a mixture of four PAHs. The study used Rhodococcus erythropolis as an exogenous bacterial strain in order to assess the biodegradation of the PAH mixture by natural attenuation, biostimulation, bioaugmentation, and a combination of biostimulation and bioaugmentation. The results showed that the last three treatments were more efficient than natural attenuation. The biostimulation/bioaugmentation combination proved to be the most effective PAH degradation treatment.

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  1. Centre Wallon de Biologie Industrielle, Université de Liège – Gembloux Agro Bio-Tech, Passage des Déportés 2, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium

    Firmin Semboung Lang, Jacqueline Destain, Frank Delvigne, Marc Ongena & Philippe Thonart

  2. Centre Wallon de Recherche Agronomique (CRA-W), Chaussée de Namur 24, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium

    Philippe Druart

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  1. Firmin Semboung Lang
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  2. Jacqueline Destain
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Lang, F.S., Destain, J., Delvigne, F. et al. Biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Mangrove Sediments Under Different Strategies: Natural Attenuation, Biostimulation, and Bioaugmentation with Rhodococcus erythropolis T902.1. Water Air Soil Pollut 227, 297 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-016-2999-4

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