Effects of Compost Addition on Pyrene Removal from Soil Cultivated with Three Selected Plant Species |
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| Authors: | Alaà Ghanem Valeria D'Orazio Nicola Senesi |
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| Institution: | Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo, della Pianta e degli Alimenti, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy |
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| Abstract: | A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of compost addition on the phytoremediation ability of Medicago sativa, Brassica napus, and Lolium perenne in soils contaminated with pyrene. Pyrene concentrations were evaluated after 90 days in contaminated uncultivated amended‐soil, cultivated amended‐soils, and shoots and roots of the three plant species. The addition of compost enhances significantly pyrene dissipation from 16 to 26% in uncultivated soil, whereas in cultivated soils it appears not to have any significant effect on pyrene dissipation, neither pyrene was detectable in shoots and roots of the three species examined. The high partition coefficient of pyrene to compost dissolved organic matter (DOM) and the molar absorptivity values at 280 nm (ε280) indicate a high affinity of pyrene to compost DOM molecules, likely due to their aromatic character. These results suggest that compost improves pyrene removal from soil, possibly by promoting its adsorption onto compost DOM. This property is very important in indicating that compost can be used, besides for its amendment capacity, also as a potential tool for remediation of contaminated soils. |
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| Keywords: | Compost Contaminated soils Phytoremediation Plant effects Pyrene |
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