Implications of co-contamination with aged heavy metals and total petroleum hydrocarbons on natural attenuation and ecotoxicity in Australian soils

Environmental Pollution
Leadin Salah KhudurAndrew S Ball

Abstract

The bioremediation of historic industrial contaminated sites is a complex process. Co-contamination, often with lead which was commonly added to gasoline until 16 years ago is one of the biggest challenges affecting the clean-up of these sites. In this study, the effect of heavy metals, as co-contaminant, together with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) is reported, in terms of remaining soil toxicity and the structure of the microbial communities. Contaminated soil samples from a relatively hot and dry climate in Western Australia were collected (n = 27). Analysis of soils showed the presence of both contaminants, TPHs and heavy metals. The Microtox test confirmed that their co-presence elevated the remaining ecotoxicity. Toxicity was correlated with the presence of lead, zinc and TPH (0.893, 0.599 and 0.488), respectively, assessed using Pearson Correlation coefficient factor. Next Generation Sequencing of soil bacterial 16S rRNA, revealed a lack of dominate genera; however, despite the variation in soil type, a few genera including Azospirillum spp. and Conexibacter were present in most soil samples (85% and 82% of all soils, respectively). Likewise, many genera of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria were identified in all soil s...Continue Reading

Citations

May 18, 2020·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Zeeshanur Rahman, Ved Pal Singh
Apr 17, 2020·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Shuai ShaoYubao Li
Nov 14, 2019·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Long MaGulnura Issanova

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