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Degradation of methyl-phenanthrene isomers during bioremediation of soil contaminated by residual fuel oil

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Abstract

Phenanthrene and methyl-phenanthrenes are major aromatic pollutants originating in particular from fuel oil. Phenanthrene is usually degraded faster than methyl-phenanthrenes under geological and environmental conditions. Here, we report a preferential and accelerated biodegradation of methyl-phenanthrenes versus phenanthrene in soil contaminated by fuel oil. The polluted soil was mixed with sawdust and sand to form a homogenized biopile. The biopile was continuously sprayed with microbial consortia isolated from crude oil–contaminated soil and treated by biosurfactants and nutritive substances for biostimulation. During a 6-month bioremediation experiment, a steady increase in the relative abundance of phenanthrene compared to methyl-phenathrenes was observed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The increase was the highest for trimethyl-phenanthrenes, with a phenanthrene/trimethyl-phenanthrenes ratio increasing from 0.42 to 2.45. By contrast, the control, non-stimulated samples showed a ratio decrease from 0.85 to 0.11. Moreover, the results showed that the level of degradability depends on the number of methyl groups.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (Projects 176006 & III 43004) for supporting this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 12-16, P.O. Box 158, 11001, Belgrade, Serbia

    Milan Novaković, Muftah Mohamed Ali Ramadan, Miroslav M. Vrvić & Branimir Jovančićević

  2. Center of Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Njegoševa 12, P.O. Box 473, 11001, Belgrade, Serbia

    Tatjana Šolević Knudsen, Vladimir Beškoski, Gordana Gojgić-Cvijović, Miroslav M. Vrvić & Branimir Jovančićević

  3. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Nemanjina 6, 11081, Belgrade, Serbia

    Mališa Antić

Authors
  1. Milan Novaković
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  2. Muftah Mohamed Ali Ramadan
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  3. Tatjana Šolević Knudsen
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  4. Mališa Antić
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  5. Vladimir Beškoski
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  6. Gordana Gojgić-Cvijović
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  7. Miroslav M. Vrvić
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  8. Branimir Jovančićević
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Correspondence to Branimir Jovančićević.

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Novaković, M., Ramadan, M.M.A., Knudsen, T.Š. et al. Degradation of methyl-phenanthrene isomers during bioremediation of soil contaminated by residual fuel oil. Environ Chem Lett 10, 287–294 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-012-0354-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-012-0354-6

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