Enhancing plant-microbe associated bioremediation of phenanthrene and pyrene contaminated soil by SDBS-Tween 80 mixed surfactants

The use of surfactants to enhance plant-microbe associated dissipation in soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is a promising bioremediation technology. This comparative study was conducted on the effects of plant-microbe treatment on the removal of phenanthrene and pyrene from contaminated soil, in the presence of low concentration single anionic, nonionic and anionic-nonionic mixed surfactants. Sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and Tween 80 were chosen as representative anionic and nonionic surfactants, respectively. We found that mixed surfactants with concentrations less than 150 mg/kg were more effective in promoting plant-microbe associated bioremediation than the same amount of single surfactants. Only about (m/m) of mixed surfactants was needed to remove the same amount of phenanthrene and pyrene from either the planted or unplanted soils, when compared to Tween 80. Mixed surfactants (< 150 mg/kg) better enhanced the degradation efficiency of phenanthrene and pyrene via microbe or plant-microbe routes in the soils. In the concentration range of 60–150 mg/kg, both ryegrass roots and shoots could accumulate 2–3 times the phenanthrene and pyrene with mixed surfactants than with Tween 80. These results may be explained by the lower sorption loss and reduced interfacial tension of mixed surfactants relative to Tween 80, which enhanced the bioavailability of PAHs in soil and the microbial degradation efficiency. The higher remediation efficiency of low dosage SDBS-Tween 80 mixed surfactants thus advanced the technology of surfactant-enhanced plant-microbe associated bioremediation.