Importance of soil physical characteristics for petroleum hydrocarbons phytoremediation: A review

Synergistic effect of pyrene and heavy metals (Zn, Pb, and Cd) on phytoremediation potential of Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa) in multi-contaminated soil

The environment in India is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) due to the occurrence of large anthropogenic activities, i.e., fuel combustion, mineral roasting, and biomass burning. Hence, 13 toxic PAHs were detected: phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and benz(a) anthracene, ben-zo; (b) fluoranthene, benzo(k) fluoranthene, benzo(a) pyrene, benzo(ghi)perylene, dibenz (ah) anthracene, indeno1,2,3-(cd) pyrene, coronene and coronene in the environment (i.e., ambient particulate matter, road dust, sludge, and sewage) of the most industrialized area. Pollutants such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons co-contaminate the soil and pose a significant hazard to the ecosystem because these pollutants are harmful to both humans and the environment. Phytoremediation is an economical plant-based natural approach for soil clean-up that has no negative impact on ecosystems. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pyrene (500 mg kg-1), Zn (150 mg kg-1), Pb (150 mg kg-1), and Cd (150 mg kg-1) alone and in combination on the phytoextraction efficiency of Medicago sativa growing in contaminated soil. Plant biomass, biochemical activities, translocation factors, accumulation of heavy metals, and pyrene removal were determined. After 60 days of planting, compared with those of the control plants, the growth parameters, biomass, and chlorophyll content of the M. sativa plants were significantly lower, and the reactive oxygen species activity, such as proline and polyphenol content and metallothionein protein content, was markedly greater in the pyrene and heavy metal-polluted soils. Furthermore, the combined toxicity of pyrene and all three metals on M. sativa growth and biochemical parameters was significantly greater than that of pyrene, Zn, Pb, or Cd alone, indicating the synergistic effect of pyrene and heavy metals on cytotoxicity. Pyrene stress increased Cd accumulation in M. sativa. After pyrene exposure alone or in combination with Zn-pyrene, a greater pyrene removal rate (85.5-81.44%) was observed than that in Pb-pyrene, Cd-pyrene, and Zn-Pb-Cd-pyrene polluted soils (62.78-71.27%), indicating that zinc can enhance the removal of pyrene from contaminated soil. The resulting hypotheses demonstrated that Medicago sativa can be used as a promising phytoremediation agent for co-contaminated soil.

Biodegradable chelating agents for enhancing phytoremediation: Mechanisms, market feasibility, and future studies

Heavy metals in soil significantly threaten human health, and their remediation is essential. Among the various techniques used, phytoremediation is one of the safest, most innovative, and effective. In recent years, the use of biodegradable chelators to assist plants in improving their remediation efficiency has gained popularity. These biodegradable chelators aid in the transformation of metal ions or metalloids, thereby facilitating their mobilization and uptake by plants. Developed countries are increasingly adopting biodegradable chelators for phytoremediation, with a growing emphasis on green manufacturing and technological innovation in the chelating agent market. Therefore, it is crucial to gain a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms and market prospects of biodegradable chelators for phytoremediation. This review focuses on elucidating the uptake, translocation, and detoxification mechanisms of chelators in plants. In this study, we focused on the effects of biodegradable chelators on the growth and environmental development of plants treated with phytoremediation agents. Finally, the potential risks associated with biodegradable chelator-assisted phytoremediation are presented in terms of their availability and application prospects in the market. This study provides a valuable reference for future research in this field.

Bioremediation of Automotive Residual Oil-Contaminated Soils by Biostimulation with Enzymes, Surfactant, and Vermicompost

Contamination of soils by automotive residual oil represents a global environmental problem. Bioremediation is the technology most suitable to remove this contaminant from the medium. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of bioremediation of automotive residual oil-contaminated soils by biostimulation with enzymes, surfactant, and vermicompost. The bioremediation efficiency was examined using a factorial design of 24 to determine the effect of the time, pH and temperature conditions, biostimulation with enzyme-vermicompost, and biostimulation with enzyme-surfactant. Enzymes obtained from Ricinus communis L. seeds, commercial vermicompost, and Triton X-100 were used. Results showed that the highest removal efficiency (99.9%) was achieved at 49 days, with a pH of 4.5, temperature of 37 °C, and using biostimulation with enzyme-vermicompost (3% w/v-5% w/w). The addition of surfactant was not significant in increasing the removal efficiency. Therefore, the results provide adequate conditions to bioremediate automotive residual oil-contaminated soils by biostimulation using enzymes supported with vermicompost.

Long-term comparison of the performance of biostimulation and phytoextraction in soil contaminated with diesel and heavy metals

The long-term remediation performance under the natural conditions is required to establish the appropriate remediation strategy for contaminated soil. The objective of this study was to compare the long-term remediation efficiency of biostimulation and phytoextraction in contaminated soil containing petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs) and heavy metals. Two types of contaminated soil (soil contaminated with diesel only and co-contaminated with diesel and heavy metals) were prepared. For the biostimulation treatments, the soil was amended with compost, whereas maize, a representative phytoremediation plant, was cultivated for the phytoextraction treatments. There was no significant difference in remediation performance of biostimulation and phytoextraction in the diesel-contaminated soil, in which the maximum total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removability was 94-96% (p < 0.05). However, phytoextraction exhibited the higher removability for TPH and heavy metals than biostimulation in the co-contaminated soil. There was no considerable change in the TPH removal in biostimulation (16-25%), while phytoextraction showed a 75% of TPH removal rate in the co-contaminated soil. Additionally, no significant changes were observed in heavy metals concentration of biostimulation, whereas the removability of heavy metals was 33-63% in phytoextraction. Meanwhile, maize, which is a suitable plant for phytoextraction, showed a translocation factor (translocating efficiency from roots to shoots) value of >1. Correlation analysis revealed that soil properties (pH, water content, and organic content) negatively correlated with pollutants removal. Additionally, the soil bacterial communities were changed over the investigated period, and the types of pollutants exerted a significant influence on the bacterial community dynamics. This study performed a pilot-scale comparison of two types of biological remediation technologies under natural environmental conditions and provided information on changes in the bacterial community structures. This study can be useful for establishing appropriate biological remediation methods to restore soil contaminated with PHs and heavy metals.

The co-application of biochar with bioremediation for the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from contaminated soil

Soil pollution from petroleum hydrocarbon is a global environmental problem that could contribute to the non-actualisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Several techniques have been used to remediate petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soils; however, there are technical and economical limitations to existing methods. As such, the development of new approaches and the improvement of existing techniques are imperative. Biochar, a low-cost carbonaceous product of the thermal decomposition of waste biomass has gained relevance in soil remediation. Biochar has been applied to remediate hydrocarbon-contaminated soils, with positive and negative results reported. Consequently, attempts have been made to improve the performance of biochar in the hydrocarbon-based remediation process through the co-application of biochar with other bioremediation techniques as well as modifying biochar properties before use. Despite the progress made in this domain, there is a lack of a detailed single review consolidating the critical findings, new developments, and challenges in biochar-based remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. This review assessed the potential of biochar co-application with other well-known bioremediation techniques such as bioaugmentation, phytoremediation, and biostimulation. Additionally, the benefits of modification in enhancing biochar suitability for bioremediation were examined. It was concluded that biochar co-application generally resulted in higher hydrocarbon removal than sole biochar treatment, with up to a 4-fold higher removal observed in some cases. However, most of the biochar co-applied treatments did not result in hydrocarbon removal that was greater than the additive effects of individual treatment. Overall, compared to their complementary treatments, biochar co-application with bioaugmentation was more beneficial in hydrocarbon removal than biochar co-application with either phytoremediation or biostimulation. Future studies should integrate the ecotoxicological and cost implications of biochar co-application for a viable remediation process. Lastly, improving the synergistic interactions of co-treatment on hydrocarbon removal is critical to capturing the full potential of biochar-based remediation.

A salt resistant biosurfactant produced by moderately halotolerant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (AHV-KH10) and its application for bioremediation of diesel-contaminated sediment in saline environment

A halotolerant bacterial strain was isolated from oily-contaminated sites of Persian Gulf, which characterized as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (AHV-KH10) by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. This strain was used for bioremediation of diesel-contaminated sediments. Biosurfactant production was initially screened by using oil displacement test and drop-collapse method, followed by measurement of surface tension (ST) of growth medium. Produced biosurfactant was a rhamnolipid type biosurfactant and lowered the ST to 33.4 mN/m at the given critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 75 mg/L. Addition of 3 CMC rhamnolipid, inoculums size of 15 mL, biodegradation in slurry phase and salinity level of 6% led totally to a diesel biodegradation rate of 70% for initial concentration of 1000 mg/kg after 35 days. The maximum diesel removal occurred at the salinity content of 6% indicating the moderately halo-tolerant characteristics of isolated strain. Evaluation of bacterial growth showed a biomass yield of 0.33 mg _VSS/mg _diesel in selected conditions. The field performance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa AHV-KH10 was proved through the removal of the TPH content in unwashed sediment, which varied from 2390 to 1875 mg/kg within four months.

Bioremediation of lindane-contaminated soils by combining of bioaugmentation and biostimulation: Effective scaling-up from microcosms to mesocosms

The scaling-up of lindane-contaminated soils bioremediation from microcosms to mesocosms bioaugmentated with an actinobacteria quadruple culture and biostimulated with sugarcane filter cake (SCFC) was surveyed. Mesocosms of silty loam soil, clayey soil, and sandy soil were polluted with the pesticide, bioaugmented with the mixed culture, biostimulated with adequate amounts of 0.5 mm SCFC particles, and assessed during 63 days maintaining environmental parameters with minimal intervention. Samples were taken to determine residual lindane, heterotrophic microorganisms, enzymatic activities, and bioremediation effectiveness using ecotoxicity tests with Raphanus sativus, Lactuca sativa, and Lycopersicon esculentum. The bioaugmentation and biostimulation of the three soils improved lindane removal, microbial counts, and enzymatic activities, and reduced pesticide T_1/2, regarding the values obtained in non-bioremediated controls. The removal process was significantly affected by the soil type, and the highest pesticide dissipation (82.6%) was detected in bioremediated sandy soil. Ecotoxicity tests confirmed the bioremediation success through a rise in the vigor index of seedlings compared to non-treated soils (R. sativus: 12-22%; L. sativa: 12-20%; L. esculentum: 30-45%). Finally, scanning electron microscopy corroborated soil colonization by actinobacteria. Successful scaling-up of the combined application of an actinobacteria quadruple culture and SCFC as an appropriate strategy for restoring lindane-polluted soils at mesocosms-scale was confirmed.

Artificial intelligence models to predict acute phytotoxicity in petroleum contaminated soils

Environment pollutants, especially those from total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), have a highly complex chemical, biological and physical impact on soils. Here we study this influence via modelling the TPH acute phytotoxicity effects on eleven samples of soils from Sakhalin island in greenhouse conditions. The soils were contaminated with crude oil in different doses ranging from the 3.0-100.0 g kg^-1. Measuring the Hordeum vulgare root elongation, the crucial ecotoxicity parameter, we have estimated. We have also investigated the contrast effect in different soils. To predict TPH phytotoxicity different machine learning models were used, namely artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM). The models under discussion were proved to be valid using the mean absolute error method (MAE), the root mean square error method (RMSE), and the coefficient of determination (R²). We have shown that ANN and SVR can successfully predict barley response based on soil chemical properties (pH, LOI, N, P, K, clay, TPH). The best achieved accuracy was as following: MAE - 8.44, RMSE -11.05, and R² -0.80.

Tolerance of Impatiens balsamina L., and Crotalaria retusa L. to grow on soil contaminated by used lubricating oil: A comparative study

Screening of plant species with an ability to grow on contaminated soil is the most critical step in the planning of a phytoremediation program. While flourishing growth of Impatiens balsamina L. and Crotalaria retusa L. has been observed in areas adjacent to automobile service stations in Sri Lanka, no systematic study of their tolerance to used lubricating oil (ULO) contaminated soil has been carried out. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the comparative responses of I. balsamina L. and C. retusa L. to soil contaminated with ULO. Both species exhibited 100% seed germination in soils treated with 1%-5% w/w ULO. After 120 h exposure, root lengths and biomass of germinated seedlings of both species were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced in all treatments above 3% w/w ULO. The measured growth parameters of plants following 90 d exposure to 0.5-3% w/w ULO, indicated significant (p < 0.05) negative effects on I. balsamina and C. retusa at >1% w/w and >2% w/w ULO, respectively. There were no significant effects on chlorophyll content or root anatomy of either species under any treatments. Therefore, we concluded that I. balsamina can tolerate up to 1% of ULO and C. retusa up to 2% w/w ULO without displaying any negative effects. Comparatively higher biodegradation of ULO in the rhizosphere, root nodule formation, increases in root length and root hair density are all possible strategies for the exhibited higher tolerance of C. retusa. Therefore, the overall results indicate that C. retusa has the greater potential to be used in phytoremediation of ULO contaminated soils. The findings of the present study will be beneficial in planning phytoremediation program for ULO contaminated soil.

Identification and overcome of limitations of weathered oil hydrocarbons bioremediation by an adapted Bacillus sorensis strain

Because of the high production of oil and gas in Qatar, the likelihood of oil spill occurrence is most probably susceptible to happen. Contaminated soil treatment is very expensive. Cost effective mechanisms are investigated to treat this threatening issue. For that reason, bioremediation and biotechnology tools are introduced to help accelerate and remove the pollution caused by the contamination process. This paper demonstrated the importance of optimising the treatment conditions to the indigenous bacterial strain to obtain the highest biodegradation efficiency rates. The usage of biopile system technology was used with biostimulation and bioaugmentation processes. The indigenous Bacillus sonorensis (B. sonorensis) D1 bacterium played a crucial role in the biodegradation process when introduced to optimized conditions; carbon/nitrogen/phosphorus (C/N/P) (100/10/1), temperature (37 °C), surfactant tween 80 (0.12% (v/w)), and moisture (10%). Gas chromatography (mass spectrometry/flame ionization detector) (GC- (MS/FID)), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and colony-forming unit (CFU) analyses were performed. The diesel range organics (DRO) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) removal (%) of the weathered oil contaminated soil reached, after 160 days, 39.2% and 32.4% simultaneously when ammonium nitrate was used as a nitrogen source. Whereas urea inhibited the oil degradation process and caused the pH to rise to 9.55.

Pea cultivar Blauwschokker for the phytostimulation of biodiesel degradation in agricultural soil

Phytoremediation is a cost-effective and ecologically friendly process that involves the use of plants to uptake, accumulate, translocate, stabilize, or degrade pollutants. The present study was conducted to demonstrate the potential of pea (Pisum sativum L. spp. sativum) cultivar Blauwschokker to phytostimulate biodiesel degradation in an agricultural soil, considering the influence of biological remediation on selected physiological parameters of plants and the amount and activity of soil microflora. Biodiesel was spiked into soil in dose of 50 g kg-1 of dry mass soil. The results of the study showed that the rate of biodiesel degradation in the vegetated soil was higher than that occurring by natural attenuation. At the same time, biodiesel showed a positive effect on the growth, development, and activity of soil bacteria and fungi. Moreover, the obtained results showed an improvement in physiological parameters of plants, including an increase in chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll content and higher relative water content in leaves in the presence of biodiesel.