Hemoglobin-Catalyzed Oxidation for Remediation of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons Contaminated Soil

The degradability of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH)-contaminated soils by hemoglobin-catalyzed oxidation with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was investigated using 8g H2O2 kg(-1) soil and 3.3 g hemoglobin kg(-1) soil. When both hemoglobin and H2O2 were used to initiate the oxidation reaction, approximately 76% TPH removal was achieved, while only 26% was removed when only H2O2 was used. This shows that the TPH removal can be enhanced in the presence of hemoglobin as a catalyst. In addition, the toxic effect of the soil treated by the hemoglobin-catalyzed oxidation, determined using Microtox (R), was reduced by about three times compared to the untreated soil. Overall, this study shows that hemoglobin may successfully act as a catalyst enhancing TPH removal in soils.