This study is aimed at verifying the relevance of Ucides cordatus as a bioindicator of oil contamination and PAH bioavailability in mangrove sediments. For this, crabs and sediment cores were sampled from five mangroves, including an area suspected of contamination derived from an MF380 oil spillage, and analyzed for the 16 PAH in the USEPA priority list as well as for the five series of alkyla...

The abundance of arsenic-tolerant diazotrophic bacteria was compared in a long-term contaminated soil versus a non-contaminated one. In addition, the characterization of tolerant diazotrophic bacteria was carried out. Differences in the number of heterotrophic N2 fixers were found between soils. Contaminated soil showed a decrease in the microbial population size of about 80%, confirming the gr...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) associations are integral, functioning parts of plant roots and are widely recognized as enhancing plant growth on severely disturbed sites, including those contaminated with heavy metals. They are reported to be present on the roots of plants growing on heavy metal contaminated soils and play an important role in metal tolerance and accumulation. Isolation of the in...

Soil from a former creosoting plant containing phenols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, was remediated using an ex-situ landtreatment process. Total 16 USEPA priority PAH and total phenol were reduced from 290 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg to < 200 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg, respectively. The bioremediation process involved soil mixing, aeration, and slow release fertilizer addition. The indigenous populatio...

−Monitoring parameters were evaluated for a bioventing process that was designed to treat soils contaminated with diesel fuel. Statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate correlations between total petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in the contaminated soil and physico-chemical parameters of soil such as microbial counts, dehydrogenase activity, and n-alkane/isoprenoid ratio. The correlat...

A comparison was made between the dissipation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil freshly spiked with pure PAHs, soil spiked with a coal tar mixture and a contaminated soil from a former coking works where the PAHs had been present for more than a century. The potential of five selected plant species for phytoremediation was investigated. The levels of all 7 PAHs in chemically am...

Genetic structure and diversity of mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) populations were investigated using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Forty-six haplotypes were identified among 208 mummichog from the Elizabeth and York Rivers in Virginia, USA. No evidence of decreased gene or nucleotide diversity for mummichog from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated sites was observed. H...

Phytoremediation is a promising method for remediation of heavy metals (HMs) contaminated environments. However, the main failures are the limited bioavailabilty of HMs such as lead (Pb) in the soil and/or suppressed plant growth in contaminated sites. These limitations specifically occur in semi-arid zone environments such as calcareous soils. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growt...

Lead contamination is of great concern because of its adverse effects on human health, especially children. This research evaluated the effects of phosphate rock on chemical associations of Pb in eight Pb-contaminated soils using a sequential extraction procedure. The chemical fractions are operationally defined by an extraction sequence in the order of increasing ability to dissolve Pb of lowe...

Citation: Kaneko M, Iwata H, Shiotsu H, Masaki S, Kawamoto Y, Yamasaki S, Nakamatsu Y, Imoto J, Furuki G, Ochiai A, Nanba K, Ohnuki T, Ewing RC and Utsunomiya S (2015) Radioactive Cs in the severely contaminated soils near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Front. Energy Res. 3:37. doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2015.00037 Radioactive Cs in the severely contaminated soils near the Fukushima Daiichi...