Abstract

DIAZ, Gilberto; ORTIZ, Rutilio  and  BERNAL, Carolina. Prediction of bioavailability of pyrene and phenanthrene among butanol extractability in soils contaminated with diesel. Terra Latinoam [online]. 2010, vol.28, n.3, pp.203-210. ISSN 2395-8030.

The assessment of human health and environmental risk associated with soils polluted by hydrocarbons is based on exhaustive techniques to extract the pollutants from the soil. Only a fraction of the pollutants has a toxic effect on different organisms. This study evaluated the availability of two aromatic compounds (pyrene and phenanthrene) in mineral soils using butanol for chemical extraction; this extraction can be useful in predicting degradation of these contaminants within bioremediation programs. The availability analyses were realized by multiple extractions of phenanthrene and pyrene from soils contaminated with diesel from mining terrain. Phenanthrene and pyrene were extracted in about 4 hours, phenantrene showed outstanding affinity for the solvent. Butanol extraction is a good option for the characterization of the bioavailability of some aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and can be used to assess the capacity of a bioremediation program. Furthermore, this method is fast, precise and inexpensive.

Keywords : degradation comparison; mineral soil; bioremediation.

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