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Designing strategies to increase bioavailability in bioremediation of PAHs

Conference Paper · January 2011

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jose julio ortega calvo María del Carmen Tejeda Agredano

Spanish National Research Council Phytoplant Research SL
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Jimenez-Sanchez Celia Eleonora Congiu

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Masaryk University
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 DESIGNING STRATEGIES TO INCREASE BIOAVAILABILITY IN
BIOREMEDIATION OF PAHs
J. J. Ortega-Calvo, M.C. Tejeda-Agredano, C. Jiménez-Sánchez,
E. Congiu, R. Sungthong, M. Cantos

Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla, IRNAS-CSIC, Apartado 1052,

41080 – Seville, SPAIN
jjortega@irnase.csic.es

INTRODUCTION

A major factor limiting the success of bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

(PAHs) in polluted sites is the low bioavailability of these compounds, due to the slow release
from the contaminated matrix. The resulting residual concentrations are of strategic value
because they can limit future uses of the sites after treatment. Therefore, innovative methods
are needed to increase bioavailability of these pollutants for an enhanced bioremediation
performance. The present contribution will summarize our recent research efforts in this
issue, performed in the Biodegradation and Bioremediation group at IRNAS-CSIC, Spain.

BIOAVAILABILITY-PROMOTING STRATEGIES

Surfactant application to promote biodegradation of slow-desorption PAHs

We employed a soil originated from a creosote-polluted site, and a manufactured gas plant
soil that had been treated by bioremediation (Bueno-Montes et al., 2011). The two soils
differed in their total content in five indicator 3-, 4- and 5- ring PAHs (2923 mg kg-1 and 183
mg kg-1 in the creosote-polluted and bioremediated soils, respectively) but had a similar
content (140 mg kg-1 vs. 156 mg kg-1) of slowly desorbing PAHs. The PAHs present in the
bioremediated soil were highly recalcitrant. The surfactant at a concentration above its critical
micelle concentration enhanced the biodegradation of slowly desorbing PAHs in suspensions
of both soils, but it was especially efficient with bioremediated soil. An inhibition of
biodegradation was observed with the high-molecular-weight PAHs pyrene and
benzo[a]pyrene in the untreated soil, possibly due to competition effects with other
solubilized PAHs present at relatively high concentrations. We suggest that nonionic
surfactants may improve bioremediation performance with soils that have previously
undergone extensive bioremediation to enrich for a slowly desorbing profile.

Integrating electrokinetics and bioremediation

The use of electroosmotic flow for the treatment of hydrophobic organic soil-contaminants
has recently been addressed as a relevant innovative step in soil remediation. However, to
our knowledge, there have been limited attempts (documented) to connect these two
technologies with remediation of PAHs. Our results indicate that biodegradation and
electroosmosis can be successfully integrated to promote the removal of PAHs (Niqui-Arroyo
& Ortega-Calvo, 2010). An electrokinetic pre-treatment was evaluated as a way to mobilise
the less bioaccessible fraction of PAHs. Residual concentrations of total biodegradable
PAHs, remaining after bioremediation in soil slurries, were twofold lower in electrokinetically
pre-treated soils than in untreated soils. It is conceivable that physicochemical changes
produced in polluted soil particles that were exposed to electric fields may promote
bioaccessibility, thus improving bioremediation performance.

Interface fertilization of free-oil phases (NAPLs)

We used an oleophilic biostimulant (S-200) to target possible nutritional limitations for
biodegradation of PAHs at the interface between NAPLs and the water phase (Tejeda-
 Agredano et al., 2011). Biodegradation of PAHs present in fuel-containing NAPLs was slow
and followed zero order kinetics, indicating bioavailability restrictions. The biostimulant
enhanced the biodegradation, producing logistic (S-shaped) kinetics and ten-fold increases
in the rate of mineralization. The enhancement was not the result of an increase in the rate of
partitioning of PAHs into the aqueous phase. It was neither caused by the compensation of
any nutritional deficiency in the medium. Biodegradation of PAH by bacteria attached to
NAPLs can be limited by nutrient availability due to the simultaneous consumption of NAPL
components, but this limitation can be overcome by interface fertilization.

Modulating deposition and motility of degraders in porous media

The positive effects of mobilization approaches in bioremediation depend on the efficiency of
bacterial movement in porous media, which is often restricted by high deposition rates and
adhesion to soil surfaces. We have prospected bacterial taxis as a process which may helps
to overcome this limitation (Velasco-Casal et al., 2008; Ortega-Calvo et al., 2011; Jimenez-
Sanchez et al., in prep.). In well-controlled column systems, we assessed the influence of
different chemoeffectors on deposition of chemotactic, naphthalene-degrading bacteria in
selected porous environments (sand, forest soil, and clay aggregates). Deposition, however,
depended on the tactic response (attraction or repellence), its interaction with the column
packing material, and concomitantly its pore-water concentration.

Promoting bioavailability with plants

The present contribution will summarize the overall design and most recent results of a
Spanish national project (CGL2010-22068-C02-01) focused on PAH bioremediation and
bioavailability in the rhizosphere. The ongoing project has already demonstrated the potential
of plants from Helianthus annuus to promote bioavailability, and therefore biodegradation, of
PAHs in soil (Tejeda-Agredano et al., in prep.). The experiments included 1) bioremediation
assays in green-house microcosms with creosote-polluted soils, 2) in vitro-production of root
exudates and 3) capillary and column chemotaxis assays with exudates and rhizosphere
bacteria.

REFERENCES

Bueno-Montes, M., Springael, D., and Ortega-Calvo, J. J. (2011) Effect of a non-ionic

surfactant on biodegradation of slowly desorbing PAHs in contaminated soils. Environ.
Sci. Technol. 45:3019-3026.
Jiménez-Sánchez, C., Sorensen, J., and Ortega-Calvo, J. J. Role of tactic response on
bacterial deposition during transport in porous media. Environ. Sci. Technol. (in
preparation).
Niqui-Arroyo, J. L. and Ortega-Calvo, J. J. (2010) Effect of electrokinetics on the
bioaccessibility of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in polluted soils. J. Environ. Qual.
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Ortega-Calvo, J. J., Molina, R., Jimenez-Sanchez, C., Dobson, P. J., and Thompson, I. P.
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Tejeda-Agredano, M. C., Gallego, S., Niqui-Arroyo, J. L., Vila, J., Grifoll, M., and Ortega-
Calvo, J. J. (2011) Effect of interface fertilization on biodegradation of polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons present in nonaqueous-phase liquids. Environ. Sci. Technol.
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Velasco-Casal, P., Wick, L.Y., and Ortega-Calvo, J.J. (2008). Chemoeffectors decrease the
deposition of chemotactic bacteria during transport in porous media. Environ. Sci.
Technol. 42:1131-1137.

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