Enzyme-mediated synergistic bioremediation of PAH and heavy metal co-contaminated soil using nocardia species and Helianthus annuus.
Ghasemi A, Abtahi SA, Jafarinia M, Azadi D
Phytoremediation
It shows that planting sunflowers alongside beneficial soil microbes could one day restore polluted land near factories or old industrial sites — turning toxic ground into farmable, safe soil again.
Scientists tested whether sunflowers and naturally-occurring soil bacteria could work together to clean up soil poisoned with industrial chemicals and heavy metals like lead and arsenic. They found that using both together was dramatically more effective than either alone — removing up to 92% of the chemical pollutants and nearly 79% of the heavy metals in just three months. The combined approach also improved soil health and fertility, meaning the land could potentially be used for growing food again.
Key Findings
The combined bacteria-plus-sunflower treatment achieved 84.5–92.3% removal of toxic industrial chemicals (PAHs) and 69.7–78.9% removal of heavy metals including arsenic, lead, and cadmium within 90 days.
Two Nocardia bacterial species (N. wallacei and N. veterana) were identified for the first time as effective agents for both breaking down chemical pollutants and removing heavy metals from soil.
The combined treatment improved soil organic carbon to 1.8% and total nitrogen to 42 mg/kg, restoring soil fertility while also keeping heavy metals from being absorbed into the sunflower plants at dangerous levels.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Combining soil bacteria (Nocardia species) with sunflowers cleaned up to 92% of toxic industrial pollutants from contaminated soil within 90 days, outperforming either approach used alone.
Abstract Preview
Heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are persistent soil contaminants posing risks to human health, environmental stability, and agricultural productivity via oxidative stress, ...
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