Effects of compost stability and contaminant concentration on the bioremediation of PAHs-contaminated soil through composting

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of two factors: the stability degree (0.37-4.55 mg O-2 g(-1) Organic Matter h(-1)) of different composts derived from the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes and the concentration of a complex mixture of PAHs including flourene, phenanthrene, anthracene, flouranthene, pyrene and benzo(a)anthracene in the bioremediation of soil. The two factors were systematically studied applying central composite design methodology. The obtained results demonstrated that compost stability degree was particularly important during the first stage of the process. Stable composts enhanced the levels of degradation in soil-compost mixture and a degradation rate of 92% was achieved in this period, but only 40% was degraded with the least stable compost. The PAHs concentration was also important during the process, since the degradation rates increased with the increase in the PAHs concentration. Moreover, all the individual PAHs demonstrated a notable decrease in their concentrations after the incubation period, but pyrene was degraded to lower levels in some treatments compared to others PAHs. (C) 2010 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.