The use of ozone in the remediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contaminated soil.

O�Mahony, Mark M.; Dobson, Alan D.W.; Barnes, Jeremy D.; Singleton, Ian

Abstract

The potential of using ozone for the removal of phenanthrene from several different soils, both alone and in combination with biodegradation using a microbial inoculant (Pseudomonas alcaligenes PA-10), was examined. The greater the water content of the soil the less effective the ozone treatment, with air-dried soils showing the greatest removal of phenanthrene; while soils with higher levels of clay also reduced the effectiveness of the ozone treatments. However, at least a 50% reduction in phenanthrene levels was achieved in air-dried soil after an ozone treatment of 6 h at 20 ppm, with up to 85% removal of phenanthrene achieved in sandy soils. The biodegradation results indicate that P. alcaligenes PA-10 may be useful as an inoculant for the removal of PAHs from contaminated soils. Under the conditions used in our experiments, however, pre-ozonation did not enhance subsequent biodegradation of phenanthrene in the soils. Similar levels of phenanthrene removal occurred in both non-ozonated and ozonated Cruden Bay soil inoculated with P. alcaligenes PA-10. However, the biodegradation of phenanthrene in ozonated Boyndie soil was much slower. This may be due to the release of toxic products in this soil during ozonation.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 10, 2005
• Online Publication Date: Sep 8, 2005
• Publication Date: 2006-04
• Deposit Date: Aug 5, 2016
• Journal: Chemosphere
• Print ISSN: 0045-6535
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-1298
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 63
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 307-314
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.07.018
• Keywords: Chemistry(all); Environmental Chemistry,
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/328344