Removal of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs) from Oil-Polluted Soil in Iran

Phytoremediation is an emerging environmental-friendly technology that can be a promising solution to remediate oil-polluted soils. The impact of high amount of hydrocarbons on growth characteristics of burningbushand common flax was evaluated in this survey. The influence of organic fertilizers was also assessed on growth of plant species in oil-contaminated soil. Soil samples in which plants showed the best growth were analyzed for residual total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) by GC-FID. Burningbush was employed for the first time in the history of phytoremediation of oil-polluted soils in this research. The two studied plant species demonstrated promising remediation efficiency in highly contaminated soil; however, petroleum hydrocarbon contamination depressed growth of surveyed plants significantly. Utilization of peat fertilizer improved plants’ growth parameters in highly oil-contaminated soil. Flax and burning bush reduced TPHs levels in contaminated soil by 87.63 and 65.29 percent, respectively, in comparison to initial concentration.