Phenanthrene bioremediation in soils using an Antarctic bacterial consortium

RUBERTO L; VAZQUEZ SC; CURTOSI A; MESTRE MC; PELLETIER E; MAC CORMACK WP

Bioremediation Journal

Taylor & Francis, Inc.

Lugar: Philadelphia; Año: 2006 vol. 10 p. 191 - 201

1088-9868

Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) inAntarctic soils is limited by low temperatures, lack of adequate levels of nutrients,low number of PAH-tolerant members in the autochthonous microbiotaand low bioavailability of contaminants. In the present work, microcosms systems(performed in 1-L glass flasks containing Antarctic soil supplemented with1744 ppm of phenanthrene) were used to study (i) the effect of biostimulationwith a complex organic source of nutrients (fish meal) combined with a surfactant(Brij 700); (ii) the effect of bioaugmentation with a psychrotolerant PAHdegradingbacterial consortium (M10); (iii) the effect of the combination of bothstrategies. The authors found that combination of biostimulation and bioaugmentationcaused a significant removal (46.6%) of phenanthrene after 56 daysunder Antarctic environmental conditions. When bioaugmentation or biostimulationwere applied separately, nonsignificant reduction in phenanthreneconcentration was observed. Microtox test showed a low increase in toxicityonly in the most efficient system. Results proved that “in situ” bioremediationprocess of phenanthrene-contaminated soils is possible in Antarctic stations.In addition, inoculation with a psychrotolerant PAH-degrading bacterial consortiumin association with a mix of fish meal and a high-molecular-weightsurfactant improved phenanthrene removal and should be the selected strategywhen the number of hydrocarbons degrading bacteria in the target soil is low.