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PHYTOREMEDIATION OF CRUDE OIL CONTAMINATED SOIL USING VETIVER (Chrypsopogon zizanioides)
  • SULEIMAN SULEIMAN,
  • Lesley Batty,
  • Iseult Lynch
SULEIMAN SULEIMAN
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

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Lesley Batty
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
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Iseult Lynch
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
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Abstract

Soil contamination is mainly attributed to certain factors such as industrialization and increasing population with negative impact on natural resources such as petroleum. The petroleum industry affects the environment through oil spills with negative effect on human health and the surrounding ecosystem due to presence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) that can be carcinogenic to humans. The aim of this research is to compare the effectiveness of Chrypsopogon zizanioides also known as vetiver grass under the influence of biosurfactants and N.P.K. fertilizer in degrading and immobilizing persistent oil pollutants particularly the 16 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) classified by United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) as priority pollutants. The experiment was conducted in a glasshouse by growing the plant C. zizanioides in a freshly spiked crude oil contaminated soil and a weathered soil added with biosurfactant (ramphnolipids) produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Similarly, all contaminated samples were amended with N.P.K fertilizer to promote the growth of C. zizanioides and microbial activities. Likewise, the assessment of the (bio) distribution of the petroleum hydrocarbons particularly the PAHs was carried out via Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC MS). The result of this research has already indicated an improvement in plant growth and biomass in samples amended with N.P.K. fertilizer. It is also highly anticipated that the findings of this research will help in dissipating persistent contaminants such as PAHs in the crude oil contaminated soils under the influence of C. zizanioides and ramphnolipids and N.P.K. fertilizer as compared to the control samples.