Consortium of Non-Spore-Forming Microorganisms as a Means for Reclamation of Soils

Abstract

The purpose is to study the possibility of using a microbiological preparation, originally developed for the processing of petroleum products, as a means of utilizing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in technogenically polluted soils of industrial and urbanized areas. Methods. The known methods of destruction of PAHs and the most common methods of reclamation used at the present time have been analyzed. It is shown that the issue of improving the quality of contaminated soils can be solved with the help of a preparation containing non-spore-forming microorganisms of the genera Candida, Pseudomonas and Rhodococcus, developed by LLC «RPA Biotekhsoyuz» and was not previously used for PAHs utilization. The effectiveness of this preparation was demonstrated on the example of 64 soil samples taken in 4 directions within a radius of 5 km from two industrial enterprises in Moscow City and the Moscow region (incineration plant No. 3 and RPA «Luch», Podolsk City, which produces metal products, respectively). Results. Concentrations of PAHs were lower by 1,5-2,4 times for samples treated with the preparation compared to untreated samples. The results are demonstrated on spatial schemes. Schemes are built using the zoning system, which was previously proposed by one of the authors of the article. This zoning system takes into account not only the total concentration of PAHs in the soil, but also the biological effects of each component on living organisms. Conclusion. The effectiveness of the use of a microbiological preparation for the utilization of PAHs in soil has been shown. It was found that the degree of processing of one or another compound of the PAHs class depends on the structure of their molecule, and also some other regularities were identified.