Phytoremediation of field soil with mixed contamination

Abstract

This study describes pot experiments conducted to investigate the effect of enhanced phytoremediation on a mixed contaminated soil extracted from a historically polluted site. The site soil was contaminated with a mixture of Pb, Cr and PAHs. A part of the soil was amended with yard waste compost. Pots were filled with the soil and phytoremediation experiments were conducted using oat plant (Avena sativa) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus) over two months. Plants grown in unamended pots were used as controls. The germination, survival and biomass of the plants were better when planted in the compost amended soil compared to the control soil. Soil Pb content was not affected by the presence of plants or by soil amendment. Cr removal was achieved by both plant species in amended and unamended soil. Soil PAH degradation did not show any noticeable trend in the presence of plants or compost amendment. The results suggest that phytoremediation of soil in combination with compost amendment is a promising remediation technology for mixed contaminated sites with aged contamination. Comparison of the present results with the results of previous experiments on spiked soil showed that the behavior of contaminants varies for historically contaminated soil and laboratory spiked soils.