Bioremediation of polluted beaches with PAHs by using biosurfactant produced by bacterium isolated from Persian Gulf

PAHs was producted from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and due to nature of publishing, it was categorized as the soil and beaches pollutant. These compounds are considered in pollutants which have priority, carcinogenic and certain mutagenic. The main difficulty of clearing contaminated areas to PAHs is the nature of highly water repellent of these pollutants and a strong attraction to the soil texture. The main objective of this current study was to determine the efficiency of phenanthrene removal from contaminated soil and beaches by using biosurfactant produced by a bacterium isolated from Persian Gulf.
with primary screening, a Bacillus sp strain with surfactin production capability was isolated and purified in laboratory. A mixed bacterial consortium isolated which was consists of three bacterial species with of capable of metabolism of phenanthrene from Khark contaminated beaches and was used as a microbial seed. The synthetic soil samples with initial phenanthrene concentration of 100 mg/kg and also natural contaminated samples were subjected to bioremediation during 9 weeks.
The phenanthrene removal efficiency in the samples containing biosurfactants and with artificial and natural pollution were 82% and 39% respectively. The removal efficiency for samples without biosurfactant was 11%.
The bioremediation process is considered an efficient, eco-friendly and operational for remediation of beache and soil polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons by using bacterial biosurfactant.