Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of untreated and treated oilfield-produced water on seed germination, seedling development, and biomass production of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate possible toxic effects of oil and other contaminants from oilfield-produced water from oil exploration and production, on seed germination, and seedling development of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). In comparison, as treated by electroflocculation, oilfield-produced water, with lower oil and organic matter content, was also used. Electroflocculation treatment of oilfield-produced water achieved significant removals of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (94 %), oil and grease (O&G) (96 %), color (97 %), and turbidity (99 %). Different O&G, COD, and salt levels of untreated and treated oilfield-produced water did not influence germination process and seedling biomass production. Normal seedlings percentage and vigor tended to decrease more intensely in O&G and COD levels, higher than 337.5 mg L−1 and 1321 mg O2 L−1, respectively, using untreated oilfield-produced water. These results indicate that this industrial effluent must be treated, in order to not affect adversely seedling development. This way, electroflocculation treatment appears as an interesting alternative to removing oil and soluble organic matter in excess from oilfield-produced water improving sunflower’s seedling development and providing a friendly environmental destination for this wastewater, reducing its potential to harm water resources, soil, and biota.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdul-Baki AA, Anderson JD (1973) Vigour determination in soybean by multiple criteria. Crop Sci 10:31–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • APHA (2005) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 21st edn. American Public Health Association, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Asaithambi P, Susree M, Saravanathamizhan R, Matheswaran M (2012) Ozone assisted electrocoagulation for the treatment of distillery effluent. Desalination 297:1–7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baker JM (1970) The effects of oils on plants. Environ Pollut 1:27–44

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bensadok K, Benammar S, Lapicque GF (2008) Electrocoagulation of cutting oil emulsions using aluminium plate electrodes. J Hazard Mater 152:423–430

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bewley JD, Black AM (1994) Seeds—physiology of development and germination. Plenum Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Bixio D, Wintgens T (2006) Water reuse system management. Manual AQUAREC. European Commission, Directorate-General for Research, Brussels

    Google Scholar 

  • BRAZIL (2009) Rules for seeds analysis. Brazilian ministry of agriculture and food. Supply, Brasília

    Google Scholar 

  • Campos JC, Borges RM, Oliveira Filho AM, Nobrega R, Sanť Anna GL Jr (2002) Oilfield wastewater treatment by combined microfiltration and biological processes. Water Res 36:95–104

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Canizares P, Martınez F, Lobato J, Rodrigo MA (2007) Break-up of oil-in-water emulsions by electrochemical techniques. J Hazard Mater 145:233–240

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cerqueira A, Marques MR (2012) Electrolytic treatment of wastewater in the oil industry. In: Gomes J (ed) New technologies in the oil and gas industry. Intech, Rijeka, pp 3–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerqueira AA, Souza PS, Marques MR (2014) Effects of direct and alternating current on the treatment of oily water in an electroflocculation process. Braz J Chem Eng 31(3):693–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chevremont AC, Farnet AM, Coulomb B, Boudenne JL (2012) Effect of coupled UV-A and UV-C LEDs on both microbiological and chemical pollution of urban wastewaters. Sci Total Environ 426:304–310

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coimbra RA, Tomaz CA, Martins CC, Nakagawa J (2007) Germination test with packgaing the rolls of paper in plastic sacks. J Seed Sci 29:92–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Crespilho FN, Santana CG, Rezende MO (2004) Brazilian industrial coconut wastewater treatment by electroflotation. Quim Nov. 27:387–392

  • Dórea HS, Bispo JR, Aragão KA, Cunha BB, Navickiene S, Alves JP, Romão LP, Garcia CA (2007) Analysis of BTEX, PAHs and metals in the oilfield produced water in the State of Sergipe, Brazil. Microchem J 85:234–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farhadi S, Aminzadeh B, Torabian A, Fard MA (2012) Comparison of COD removal from pharmaceutical wastewater by electrocoagulation, photoelectrocoagulation, peroxi-electrocoagulation and peroxi-photoelectrocoagulation processes. J Hazard Mater 219:35–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill LS, Nyawuame HGK, Ehikhametalor AO (1992) Effect of crude oil on the growth and anatomical features of Chromolaena odorata (L.) K. & R. Newsletter 6(1):1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta SC (2002) Seed dormancy studies in some Ocimum species and its control through chemical treatment. J Med Aromat Plant Sci 24(4):957–960

    Google Scholar 

  • ISTA (1999) International rules for seed testing. Seed Sci Technol 13(2):299–513

    Google Scholar 

  • Karhu M, Kuokkanen V, Kuokkanen T, Ramo J (2012) Bench scale electrocoagulation studies of bio oil-in-water and synthetic oil-in-water emulsions. Sep Purif Technol 96:296–305

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maguire JD (1962) Speeds of germination-aid selection and evaluation for seedling emergence and vigor. Crop Sci 2:176–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melo M, Schluter H, Ferreira J, Magda R, Júnior A, Aquino O (2010) Advanced performance evaluation of a reverse osmosis treatment for oilfield produced water aiming reuse. Desalination 250:1016–1018

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Melville A, Galleta G, Draper A, Ng T (1980) Seed germination and early seedling vigour in progenies of inbred strawberry selections. HortSci 15:749–750

    Google Scholar 

  • Mollah MYA, Schennach R, Parga JR, Cocke DL (2001) Electrocoagulation (EC)—science and applications. J Hazard Mater 84:29–41

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Norton-Brandão D, Scherrenberg SM, van Lier JB (2013) Reclamation of used urban waters for irrigation purposes—a review of treatment technologies. J Environ Manag 122:85–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedrozo MFM, Barbosa EM, Corseuil HX, Schneider MR, Linhares MM (2002) Ecotoxicologia e avaliação de risco do petróleo. Centro de Recursos Ambientais 12:246

    Google Scholar 

  • Pereyra-Irujo GA, Izquierdo NG, Covi M, Nolasco SM, Quiroz F, Aguirrezábal LAN (2009) Variability in sunflower oil quality for biodiesel production: a simulation study. Biomass Bioenergy 33:459–468

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pezeshki SR, Hester W, Lin Q, Nyman JA (2000) The effects of oil spill and clean-up on dominant US gulf coast marsh macrophytes: a review. Environ Pollut 108:129–139

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Porte AF, Schneider RCS, Kaercher JA, Klamt RA, Schmatz WL, da Silva WLT, Severo Filho WA (2010) Sunflower biodiesel production and application in family farms in Brazil. Fuel 89:3718–3724

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts EH (1972) Dormancy: a factor affecting seed survival in the soil. In: Roberts EH (ed) Viability of seeds. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Saruhan N, Kadioglu A, Durmus N (2002) Alleviation of seed dormancy in Plantago major. Isr J Plant Sci 50(3):177–179

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silva PCC, Jesus FN, Alves AC, Jesus CAS, Santos AR (2013) Growth of sunflower plants cultivated in lead contaminated environment. Biosci J 29(1):1576–1586

    Google Scholar 

  • Souza A, Oliveira MF, Castiglioni VBR (2004) The boron on sunflower crop. Semin Ciên Agrár 25(1):27–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Souza PS, Rigo M, Cerqueira AA, Ferreira AC, Marques MM, Perez DV (2013) Effect of different concentrations of Fe3+ in sunflower’s germination. Rev Int Ciências 3:73–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsoutsos T, Chatzakis M, Sarantopoulos L, Nikologiannis A, Pasadakis N (2013) Effect of wastewater irrigation on biodiesel quality and productivity from castor and sunflower oil seeds. Renew Energy 57:211–215

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Un UT, Koparal AS, Ogutveren UB (2009) Electrocoagulation of vegetable oil refinery wastewater using aluminum electrodes. J Environ Manag 90:428–433

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vashisth A, Nagarajan S (2010) Effect on germination and early growth characteristics in sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seeds exposed to static magnetic field. J Plant Physiol 167:149–156

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vasudevan S, Lakshmi J, Sozhan G (2011) Effects of alternating and direct current in electrocoagulation process on the removal of cadmium from water. J Hazard Mater 192:26–34

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vieira RD, Krzyzanowski FC (1999) Electrical conductivity test. In: Krzyzanowski FC, Vieira RD, França Neto JB (eds) Seed vigor: concepts and testing. ABRATES, Brasília, pp 1–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang CL (2007) Electrochemical coagulation for oily water demulsification. Sep Purif Technol 54:388–395

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Rio de Janeiro State Research Foundation (FAPERJ) for the grants and for the funding support.

Compliance with ethical standards

This study was funded by Rio de Janeiro State Research Foundation-FAPERJ (grant number E-26/112.211/2012).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Technology Laboratory, Institute of Chemistry, State University of Rio de Janeiro, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Mônica Regina da Costa Marques, Paulo Sérgio Alves de Souza, Michelle Machado Rigo, Alexandre Andrade Cerqueira & Julieta L. de Paiva

  2. Department of Biochemical Process Technology, Institute of Chemistry, State University of Rio de Janeiro, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Fábio Merçon

  3. Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, 22460-000, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Daniel Vidal Perez

Authors
  1. Mônica Regina da Costa Marques
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paulo Sérgio Alves de Souza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michelle Machado Rigo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alexandre Andrade Cerqueira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Julieta L. de Paiva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Fábio Merçon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Daniel Vidal Perez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mônica Regina da Costa Marques.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Elena Maestri

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

da Costa Marques, M.R., de Souza, P.S.A., Rigo, M.M. et al. Effects of untreated and treated oilfield-produced water on seed germination, seedling development, and biomass production of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 15985–15993 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4820-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4820-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation