Ex-situ bioremediation of Brazilian soil contaminated with plasticizers process wastes

the aim of this research was to evaluate the bioremediation of a soil contaminated with wastes from a plasticizers industry, located in s？o paulo, brazil. a 100-kg soil sample containing alcohols, adipates and phthalates was treated in an aerobic slurry-phase reactor using indigenous and acclimated microorganisms from the sludge of a wastewater treatment plant of the plasticizers industry (11gvss kg-1 dry soil), during 120 days. the soil ph and temperature were not corrected during bioremediation; soil humidity was corrected weekly to maintain 40%. the biodegradation of the pollutants followed first-order kinetics; the removal efficiencies were above 61% and, among the analyzed plasticizers, adipate was removed to below the detection limit. biological molecular analysis during bioremediation revealed a significant change in the dominant populations initially present in the reactor.