Effect of rapeseed oil on the degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil by Rhodococcus wratislaviensis

PAH are often found in contaminated soils and there is the need of developing techniques that can be applied in the remediation of these sites, where PAH, specially those with high molecular weight, pose health and environmental risks. There is a continuous search for efficient microorganisms able to degrade these pollutants and for methods to enhance their degradation and bioavailability, e.g. by the use of vegetable oils. This paper presents a novel process for the degradation of PAH by a combined biological/abiotic system.