Research Article
Umema Mohsin, Madan Lowry, Ran
Abstract
Rapid rate of industrialization, urbanization and automobile, cause severe contamination to air and soil. There has been exponential increase in numbers of automobiles in Indian subcontinent. In this study we used four native soil microorganisms for remediation of petroleum contaminated sites at Jaipur, India. The land areas of examination were exclusively selected for its use as a stand for heavy transport vehicles. Surface soil was collected from the areas within and surroundings of the Transport Nagar, Jaipur. Physiochemical studies, total petroleum hydrocarbon and effect of various bacterial consortia were investigated. Results show that pH, electrical conductivity, bicarbonate and water holding capacity in test samples (T1, T2 and T3) were substantially reduced. Measurement of chloride however, showed huge elevation (P<0.05) in all three test samples (T1, T2 and T3), which was calculated as 53.9 mg/100 g, 71 mg/100 g and 146.26 mg/100 g, respectively. Wide ranges of alkanes (C8 to C29) including both short chain and long chain alkanes were found in test samples. New peaks were observed following treatment with bacterial consortia. In test sample T1 intermediate compounds were observed. The best result was recorded for consortium D and E. Among these two consortia, consortium D (P. rhodesiae, C. henricii and P. koreense) showed exceptional growth from 3rd day onward. At 10th day of incubation growth of consortium D reached highest peak which was nearly 2-3 folds greater than other consortia. Our results showed that consortium D was a completely usable and functional bioremediation tool to improve soil physiochemical characteristics and with effective biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon.