Vol. 23, No. 2 (2024), Bio24172 https://doi.org/10.24275/rmiq/Bio24172

Effect of surfactants on the removal of total petroleum hydrocarbons and microbial communities during bioremediation of a contaminated mining soil

 

Authors

S. Cisneros-de la Cueva, M.A. Martínez-Prado, J.A. Rojas-Contreras, J. López-Miranda

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ionic and nonionic surfactants on the biodegradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and the abundance and diversity of microbial communities. The experiments were conducted in two stages. In the first stage at microcosm level with Tween 80, Triton X-100, and SDS at 0, 1, 5, and 9 critical micelle concentrations (CMC) at 10, 20, and 30% moisture. The TPH removal rates, in decreasing order were 42.97 ± 0.70% for Tween 80 at 5 CMC and 30% moisture; 27.71 ± 0.62% for SDS at 1 CMC and 30% moisture; 27.33 ± 1.47% for Triton X-100, 5 CMC and 30% moisture; and 13.97 ± 0.38% the for negative control (no surfactant added) at 30% moisture. In the second stage, the best conditions of microcosm experiments were replicated in the biopile system. In this stage, the highest values of abundance and diversity of microbial communities and TPH degradation (49.89 ± 0.62%) were obtained for Tween 80 treatment with 5 CMC and 30% moisture. Consequently, the result shows that surfactant addition and moisture content influenced the microbial communities and TPH degradation suggesting that this method could be used to remove hydrocarbons from contaminated soils.

Keywords

Surfactants, bioremediation, bioavailability, metabolites, TPH.

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