Solid Phase Bioremediation of Butachlor in Contaminated Soil and Evaluation of Leaching Potential

Article type: Research Article

Authors: S., Shailaja | Krishna, M. Rama | Yerramsetty, Swamy Venkata

Affiliations: Bio-Engineering and Environmental Center, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology Hyderabad, India

Note: [] Corresponding author: E-mail: shailusrinivasan@yahoo.com

Abstract: Butachlor is a common herbicide which is widely used for weed control of grasses in rice. It is a persistent pollutant in agricultural soil. Leaching experiments were performed to study the relative leaching potential of butachlor in various types of soil matrices. Leaching of butachlor showed up to a depth of 30 cm in all the studied soil matrices, irrespective of pH conditions used. The leaching potential of butachlor was assessed at various pH conditions. Comparatively higher leaching potential was observed in basic pH compared to the neutral and acidic pH of the soil. Soil phase bioremediation of butachlor was also studied with different soil matrices. Bioremediation experiments performed in the presence of sunlight showed higher efficiency. Biostimulation did not respond positively on the progress of bioremediation. Bioaugmentation along with sunlight showed higher remediation effciency in all the experiments conducted.

Keywords: Butachlor, leaching, solid phase bioremediation, sunlight, bioaugmentation

Journal: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 23-29, 2014