Phytoremediation of soil polluted with Iraqi crude oil using grass plant

Abstract

Remediation technology is a promising technique that decreases pollutants like hydrocarbons from the environment. An experimental work was done at green house of University of Technology in order to study the effect of crude oil on the plant growth and to measure the decrement which happened on shoot height, germination rate and the reduction of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), which resulted by this phytoremediation technique. The samples of soil were measured for TPH reduction and removal by Horiba model OCMA - 350. Five doses were used in this experiment (0 control, 10x103, 30 x103, 50 x103, 75 x103) (mg crude oil / kg soil) or (ppm). The greater efficiency was obtained in the treatment 50 x103 ppm seeded with cotton, in which cotton removed 50.66% of the primary TPHs from soil. Results showed that the employed vegetate species were promising and effective in reducing and removing TPHs from freshly polluted soil.