Abstract
Biostimulation of the activity of degrading autochthonous microbiota constitutes one of the most accepted bioremediation tools for oil-polluted soils. Applications of nutrients such as nitrogen fertilizers, oleophilic fertilizers or surfactants are some of the strategies employed. Soil microcosm experiments were performed in open glass containers to compare the biological activity of two types of soils: a sandy soil with low nutrient content and low biological activity and a clay loam soil with high nutrient content and high biological activity. Arabian crude oil was used as the contaminant, applied at 10,000 mg kg−1 and 20,000 mg kg−1. Different treatments were used including natural attenuation, used as a control, and the application of different biostimulation products. The results showed that for sandy soil at high hydrocarbon pollution, amendment with oleophilic fertilizer combined with a surfactant was the best treatment, whereas at low hydrocarbon pollution no significant differences were found among the treatments. In clay loam soil, at 10,000 mg kg−1 of hydrocarbon pollution, surfactant application was the most efficient treatment for total petroleum hydrocarbons removal. However, when Arabian crude oil was supplied at 20,000 mg kg−1, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium treatment and the oleophilic fertilizer S200C in combination with surfactant treatment presented the highest rate of total petroleum hydrocarbons removal. Thus, the suitability of biostimulation treatments was strongly influenced by the initial physicochemical and biological characteristics of the soil.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Technological Centre of Repsol (CTR) and by the Environmental Microbiology Research Group RNM270 of the University of Granada, Spain. E. Aranda gratefully acknowledges MINECO and FEDER funds via the Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC-2013-12481). We acknowledge Proof-Reading-Service.com (UK) for improving the English in the manuscript.
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Calvo, C., Rodríguez-Calvo, A., Robledo-Mahón, T. et al. Biostimulation of crude oil-polluted soils: influence of initial physicochemical and biological characteristics of soil. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 16, 4925–4934 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02269-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02269-8