Insights into the effects of hydrogen peroxide and Fenton oxidation on PAHs removal and indigenous microorganisms in a coking-contaminated soil

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are typical persistent organic pollutants in the coking-contaminated soil, however, the effects of chemical oxidation on PAHs removal and the responses of indigenous microorganisms in slurry system has not been studied. In this study, the removal efficiency of PAHs and the responses of indigenous microorganisms treated by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Fenton oxidation under different liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio were investigated. The results showed that the highest removal efficiency of Σ PAHs treated by H2O2 oxidation was at the L/S ratio of 4:1. At such condition, the order of PAHs removal efficiency from high to low was 3-ring PAHs (69.7%–99.9%), followed by high ring PAHs (4-6 rings, 54.5%–95.5%), and 2-ring PAHs (38.1%–52.4%). However, Fenton oxidation had insignificantly increased the removal efficiency of PAHs, partly because the high content of metal cations (i.e., Fe2＋ and Mn2+) in coking contaminated soil. The number of soil microorganisms changed slightly during H2O2 and Fenton oxidation treatments (∼10 8 copies/g), while the bacterial diversity increased significantly. Microbial function analysis suggested that the carbohydrate metabolism, xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism mainly contributed to the degradation of PAHs. Moreover, the function genes and pathways (i.e., amino sugar metabolism and citrate cycle) that involved in PAHs biodegradation increased, which can further promote the biological degradation of PAHs by indigenous microorganisms.