Bioavailability as a tool for planning bioremediation of petroleum-polluted soil

Soil pollution scenarios are every time more often and bioremediation is a well-known strategy to remove pollutants from soil. In theory, only the bioavailable fractions of a pollutant might be degraded using bioremediation. This hypothesis was tested via the estimation of bioavailable petroleum-hydrocarbons in polluted clay soil and measurements on the biodegradation of the hydrocarbons in bioremediation systems at both laboratory (ideal conditions) and field conditions (treatment units of 120 m3 on landfarming and windrow configurations). A non-exhaustive extraction technique with 50% 1-propanol was used to estimate bioavailability. Treatment efficiencies (based on the total concentration of the pollutant) were 47.27 and 45.83% at laboratory and field conditions, respectively. Bioremediation efficiencies (based on the bioavailable fraction of the pollutant) were 92.66 and 88.76% for laboratory and field conditions, respectively. These results suggest that bioavailability might be used as a tool to set up feasible biodegradation goals.