Minimizing the Health Risks from Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soils by Using Electric Field-Based Treatment for Soil Remediation

Irina Istrate,Mihaela Stoian,Diana Cocârță,Zucheng Wu

doi:10.3390/su10010253

Irina Istrate, Mihaela Stoian + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su10010253

Copy DOI

Abstract

The present work addresses the assessment of human health risk from soil contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) due to crude oil pollution, with a particular focus on the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) group of carcinogenic and toxic substances. Given that the measured risk for human health exceeded the accepted level, the study considered an electrochemical remediation method. The laboratory-scale experiments were conducted by using an electric field-based treatment as a possible solution for the remediation of contaminated soil. After 20 days of treatment, while the voltage applied was 15 V (specific voltage of 1 V/cm), the hydrocarbon content was significantly reduced. The parameters measured to determine the overall remediation efficiency were pH, redox potential, ionic strength, soil characteristics, voltage gradient, and zeta potential. The remediation degree observed during the experiments was around 50% for TPHs and 46% for PAHs. The applied remediation method resulted in significant removal efficiency of the tested contaminants from the soil. Consequently, the human health risk assessment for the new degree of contaminants in the soil was achieved. This data demonstrated to what extent the application of the remediation applied technology ensured an acceptable risk under the same exposure conditions for the industrial workers.

Highlights

In recent decades, the issue of soil pollution has increased due to rapid urbanization and industrialization
If soil contamination is the presence of a minor and unwanted contaminant in the natural environment, soil pollution represents the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change; so, the present work is about soil pollution with crude oil during oil exploration
Other initiatives linked to CARACAS are NICOLE (Network for Industrially Contaminated Land in Europe), an industry-led concerted action programme; RACE (Risk Abatement Centre for Contaminated Sites in Central and Eastern European Countries); the EEA’s European Topic Centre on Soil; the International Standards Organisation Technical Committee TC190 dealing with soil quality [4]; and TIMBRE (Tailored Improvement of Brownfield Regeneration in Europe), a European research project financed under the European Union (EU) 7th Framework Programme, which Romania, through the National Agency for Environmental Protection and Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, was part of

Summary

Introduction

The issue of soil pollution has increased due to rapid urbanization and industrialization. Regarding soil contamination and risk assessment, some of the European Union member countries have already established procedures to assess and manage the risks posed by contaminated sites, while others are currently in the process of doing so. In this regard, the first significant European project was promoted by the German Environment Ministry and coordinated by the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, Dessau-Roßlau, Germania), and involved scientists from 16 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Other initiatives linked to CARACAS are NICOLE (Network for Industrially Contaminated Land in Europe), an industry-led concerted action programme; RACE (Risk Abatement Centre for Contaminated Sites in Central and Eastern European Countries); the EEA’s European Topic Centre on Soil; the International Standards Organisation Technical Committee TC190 dealing with soil quality [4]; and TIMBRE (Tailored Improvement of Brownfield Regeneration in Europe), a European research project financed under the EU 7th Framework Programme, which Romania, through the National Agency for Environmental Protection and Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, was part of

Objectives

Methods

Results