Salix rubens and Salix triandra Species as Phytoremediators of Soil Contaminated with Petroleum-Derived Hydrocarbons

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 223; no. 8; pp. 4723 - 4731
• Main Authors: da Cunha, Ana Cristina Borba, Sabedot, Sydney, Sampaio, Carlos Hoffmann, Ramos, Claudete Gindri, da Silva, Alexandre Rodrigues
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2012; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Benzo(a)pyrene; Benzopyrene; Bioremediation; Carcinogens; Chemical elements; Chemical spills; Chrysene; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Dichloromethane; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental cleanup; Environmental degradation; Environmental economics; Environmental management; Environmental monitoring; Fluoranthene; Heavy metals; Hydrocarbon leakage & seepage; Hydrogeology; Liquid chromatography; Mineral oils; Oil spills; Organic compounds; Organic soils; Petroleum; Petroleum hydrocarbons; Petroleum industry; Phytoremediation; Plant extracts; Pollutants; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Pyrene; Quality of life; Salix rubens; Salix triandra; Soil contamination; Soil pollution; Soil Science & Conservation; Studies; Urban areas; Vegetable oils; Water Quality/Water Pollution; PAHs; Contaminated soil; Phytodegradation; species; Phytoremediation
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-012-1228-z

The petroleum industry activities provide potential risks to the environment because they can contaminate ecosystems with different organic compounds in the production chain. Several accidents with transport and handling of petroleum and related products occurred in urban areas with harmful effects to the quality of life and economy. In the 1990s, bioremediation and phytoremediation technologies as economically feasible alternatives to repair the environmental damage were developed. In this study, the potential of the willows Salix rubens and Salix triandra were evaluated with regard to the phytoremediation of soils contaminated with petroleum-derived hydrocarbons (total hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)). The PAHs were quantified by extraction from soils and plants using dichloromethane under ultrasonication. The HPLC analysis was performed with GC/MSD equipment. The total hydrocarbons present in uncontaminated soil were quantified by the sum of animal/vegetable oils and greases and mineral oils and greases according to Standard Methods 5520 (1997) . The two willows species S . rubens and S . triandra were resistant during the project development. In the contaminated soil, in which both species were planted, the total hydrocarbons concentration was reduced near 98 %. The PAHs content was remarkably reduced as well. Pyrene showed an initial concentration of 23.06 μg kg −1 , decreasing in most cases to 0.1 μg kg −1 or to undetectable levels. Chrysene decreased from 126.27 μg kg −1 to undetectable levels. Benzo[ k ]fluoranthene and benzo[ a ]pyrene concentrations had also showed a decrease from 28.44 and 3.82 μg kg −1 , respectively, to undetectable levels.