Assessment of preservative migration from wood using a soil sachet method

Migration of creosote components from timbers treated with creosote and processed using Best Management Practices

While creosote components have very low water solubility, concerns have been raised about potential environmental effects and stimulated research to minimize migration. Best management practices have been developed but there are few data quantifying their effects. The effects of post-treatment steaming on migration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from horizontally oriented creosote treated southern pine decking subjected to simulated rainfall were examined. Twelve of the 16 PAHs examined were detected in runoff during the rainfall exposure but at concentrations well below those predicted by water solubility. PAH levels declined with increasing rainfall time, although the differences were sometimes slight. Steaming for 1 h had minimal effect on PAH levels in runoff while 3 h of steaming produced more noticeable reductions ranging from ~20 to 80% for naphthalene, acenaphthylene, and acenaphthene. Longer post-treatment steaming times reduced initial losses of creosote components from treated wood.

Bacteria involved in biodegradation of creosote PAH - A case study of long-term contaminated industrial area

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) contained in creosote oil are particularly difficult to remove from the soil environment. Their hydrophobic character and low bioavailability to soil microorganisms affects their rate of biodegradation. This study was performed on samples of soil that were (for over forty years) subjected to contamination with creosote oil, and their metagenome and physicochemical properties were characterized. Moreover, the study was undertaken to evaluate the biodegradation of PAHs by autochthonous consortia as well as by selected bacteria strains isolated from long-term contaminated industrial soil. From among the isolated microorganisms, the most effective in biodegrading the contaminants were the strains Pseudomonas mendocina and Brevundimonas olei. They were able to degrade more than 60% of the total content of PAHs during a 28-day test. The biodegradation of these compounds using AT7 dispersant was enhanced only by Serratia marcescens strain. Moreover, the addition of AT7 improved the effectiveness of fluorene and acenaphthene biodegradation by Serratia marcescens 6-fold. Our results indicated that long-term contact with aromatic compounds induced the bacterial strains to use the PAHs as a source of carbon and energy. We observed that supplementation with surfactants does not increase the efficiency of hydrocarbon biodegradation.