Comparative assessment of bioremediation approaches to highly recalcitrant PAH degradation in a real industrial polluted soil.

High recalcitrant characteristics and low bioavailability rates due to aging processes can hinder high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HMW-PAHs) bioremediation in real industrial polluted soils. With the aim of reducing the residual fraction of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and (HMW-PAHs) in creosote-contaminated soil remaining after a 180-d treatment in a pilot-scale biopile, either biostimulation (BS) of indigenous microbial populations with a lignocellulosic substrate (LS) or fungal bioaugmentation with two strains of white-rot fungi (WRF) (i.e., Trametes versicolor and Lentinus tigrinus) were comparatively tested. The impact of bivalent manganese ions and two mobilizing agents (MAs) (i.e., Soybean Oil and Brij 30) on the degradation performances of biostimulated and bioaugmented microcosms was also compared. The results reveal soil colonization by both WRF strains was clearly hampered by an active native soil microbiota. In fact, a proper enhancement of native microbiota by means of LS amendment promoted the highest biodegradation of HMW-PAHs, even of those with five aromatic rings after 60 days of treatment, but HMW-PAH-degrading bacteria were specifically inhibited when non-ionic surfactant Brij 30 was amended. Effects of bioaugmentation and other additives such as non-ionic surfactants on the degrading capability of autochthonous soil microbiota should be evaluated in polluted soils before scaling up the remediation process at field scale.