Application Of Synthetic And Natural Surfactants For Mobilizing Pahs In Marine Sediments For Remediation Purposes

Abstract

Extended Abstract The presence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in marine sediments is one of the major concern for human health and marine ecosystem because of their toxicity, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity [1]. The increase of industrial and urbanization processes contributes to rise PAHs level in the coastal regions. They readily associate with inorganic and organic suspended particles and may accumulate in sediments at high concentrations, due to their low solubility and hydrophobic nature [2]. In recent years, the use of surfactants, as soil-washing agents, is becoming particularly attractive for their low toxicity and favourable biodegradability in the environment relative to organic-solvent based systems [3]. It has been reported that the success of soil-washing with surfactants can be attributed to the capacity of these compounds to appreciably enhance the aqueous solubility of hydrophobic organic compounds [4] and then the efficiency of contaminants mobilization. The aim of this research is the evaluation of the ability to solubilize and mobilize PAHs of different non-ionic and biodegradable surfactants, synthetic or biosurfactants, in order to remediate heavily contaminated sediments. Investigated Surfactants’ families are Alkylpolyglycosides (APGs), Sophorolipids (SLs) and Rhamnolipids (RLs). Sediments from Bagnoli