Abstract
A soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorophenols was bioremediated in field box plots. Three different bioremediation treatments (tillage and irrigation alone (box plot 2) or in addition to amendment with nitrogen and phosphorus (box plots 3 and 4) and additional organic amendment composed ofagricultural crop residues (box plot 4)) were comparedusing chemical analysis for target contaminants andsix toxicity tests (seed germination, earthwormsurvival, SOS Chromotest, Toxi-Chromotest, solid-phaseMicrotox® andred blood cell (RBC) haemolysisassay). Degradation was enhanced, and toxicity wasgenerally the most reduced, in box plots 3 and 4. Although chemical analysis indicated that the twoamendment protocols were equally effective, soiltoxicity was generally the most reduced in box plot 4. The earthworm survival and seed germination assayswere the most reliable and relevant toxicity tests. Difficulties arising with the other tests includedinsensitivity to changes in soil contaminant levels,inconsistency and interference by soil particles andother soil constituents. Because of the lack ofagreement between toxicity tests, these resultssupport the use of a battery of toxicity tests inconjunction with chemical analysis, when assessing theefficacy of bioremediation.
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