Potential of alfalfa for use in chemically and biologically assisted phytoremediation of soil co-contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons and metals

GENERAL BACKGROUND : As a result of anthropogenic activities, soil resources remain contaminated with heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons. The high frequency of occurrence of multi-contaminated soils in the environment brings to light the necessity to find remediation solutions adequate in such complex scenarios, which besides have seldom been studied. Phytoremediation is a biologically based remediation technology, which takes advantage of the intrinsic physiological abilities of plants to remediate contaminated media. Plants and their associated microorganisms perform phytoremediation processes (e.g. phytoextraction and rhizodegradation), which can bring about the clean-up of multi-contaminated soils. However, a major constraint which hinders the success of phytotechnologies is low bioavailability of pollutants in soil. As a result, chemically- and biologically-assisted phytoremediation are possible strategies used to overcome this limitation and improve the remediation efficiency. The chemical approach presented in this study involves the addition of biodegradable soil amendments to increase the ability of contaminants to be transferred from a soil compartment to plants and microorganisms. The biological strategy explored herein consists of inoculating contaminated soils with bacteria (bioaugmentation) able to improve remediation of pollutants and/or promote plant features.MAIN OBJECTIVES: a) To investigate the phytoremediation potential of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) in multi-contaminated soils b) To study the effects of the low molecular weight organic acid citric acid and the surfactant Tween® 80 on the phytoremediation process c) To assist phytoremediation with a bioaugmentation approach using Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria. METHODOLOGIES: Determination of germination and mortality rates, assessment of plant physiological parameters. Quantification of plant biomass, heavy metals in plants, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in soil, soil microbiological indicators. Calculation of phytoremediation parameters. REMARKABLE RESULTS : Alfalfa presented low tolerance to TPH contaminated soil at 8400 mg kg-1 soil, which was improved when TPH were present at lower concentration (3600 mg kg-1 soil). Alfalfa was able to take up metals to a limited extent (<100 mg kg-1 dry matter), while had a positive effect in promoting microbial number of alkane degraders and lipase activity in the rhizosphere. Moreover, the combined application of citric acid and Tween® 80 resulted in a greater improvement of these parameters. Bioaugmentation with P. aeruginosa had a promoting effect on alfalfa biomass (71% increase of plant total dry biomass). In addition, the highest TPH removal rates (68%, after 90 days of experiment) were obtained in soils vegetated with alfalfa and bioaugmented with P. aeruginosa.OVERALL CONCLUSION: Alfalfa could tolerate a heavy metal and petroleum hydrocarbon co-contaminated soil (subject to TPH levels), which is an essential characteristic for any plant species to be used in phytoremediation. Alfalfa could not be considered as an actively heavy metal removal species as it was not able to phytoextract significant amounts of heavy metals (still in the presence of soil amendments or bioaugmentation). Nevertheless, the enhancement of microbial number and activity in the rhizosphere encouraged the potential of this plant species to be successfully used in the remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons. These effects were additionally enhanced by the joint application of soil amendments. Finally, the combination of phytoremediation and bioaugmentation seems a promising approach to achieve the remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons, when present in multi-contaminated soils