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Advanced multivariate analysis to assess remediation of hydrocarbons in soils

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Abstract

Accurate monitoring of degradation levels in soils is essential in order to understand and achieve complete degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in contaminated soils. We aimed to develop the use of multivariate methods for the monitoring of biodegradation of diesel in soils and to determine if diesel contaminated soils could be remediated to a chemical composition similar to that of an uncontaminated soil. An incubation experiment was set up with three contrasting soil types. Each soil was exposed to diesel at varying stages of degradation and then analysed for key hydrocarbons throughout 161 days of incubation. Hydrocarbon distributions were analysed by Principal Coordinate Analysis and similar samples grouped by cluster analysis. Variation and differences between samples were determined using permutational multivariate analysis of variance. It was found that all soils followed trajectories approaching the chemical composition of the unpolluted soil. Some contaminated soils were no longer significantly different to that of uncontaminated soil after 161 days of incubation. The use of cluster analysis allows the assignment of a percentage chemical similarity of a diesel contaminated soil to an uncontaminated soil sample. This will aid in the monitoring of hydrocarbon contaminated sites and the establishment of potential endpoints for successful remediation.

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Abbreviations

HC:

Hydrocarbons

PAH:

Polycyclic aromatic HC

GCMS:

Gas Chromatography Mass Analysis

UCM:

Unresolved complex mixture

PCA:

Principal Components Analysis, MDS, non-metric Multi Dimensional Scaled plots

EPA:

Environmental Protection Agency

ASE:

Accelerated Solvent Extraction

PCO:

Principal Coordinate Analysis

PERMANOVA:

Permutational multivariate analysis of variance

MGA:

Map Grid of Australia

ASE:

Accelerated Solvent Extractor

SAA:

Saturate and Aromatic

EMS:

Estimates of components of variation

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Funding Sources

Funding for this study was provided by Western Power and Horizon Power. Sampling was conducted by Environmental Resource Management for Horizon Power. Laboratory facilities and equipment were provided by Chemcentre WA.

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Author notes

  1. Peter Taylor

    Present address: Department of Environment and Conservation, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, Kensington, WA, 6983, Australia

  2. Mark Tibbett

    Present address: Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Deborah S. Lin & Mark Tibbett

  2. ChemCentre, PO Box 1250, Bentley, WA, 6983, Australia

    Peter Taylor

Authors
  1. Deborah S. Lin
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  2. Peter Taylor
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  3. Mark Tibbett
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark Tibbett.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Zhihong Xu

Author Contributions

The manuscript was written through contributions of all authors. All authors have given approval to the final version of the manuscript. †This was the primary author. ‡§These authors contributed equally.

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Lin, D.S., Taylor, P. & Tibbett, M. Advanced multivariate analysis to assess remediation of hydrocarbons in soils. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 11998–12005 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3140-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3140-0

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