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. 2022 May;108(5):956-962.
doi: 10.1007/s00128-022-03475-w. Epub 2022 Feb 28.

Synergy of the Tropical Earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus and Oil Palm Bagasse in the Removal of Heavy Crude Oil

María Del Carmen Cuevas-Díaz  1 , Fernando Rafael Ramos-Morales  2 , Alejandro Castro-Luna  3 , Dinora Vázquez-Luna  4 , Sergio Martínez-Hernández  3 , Oswaldo Guzmán-López  1 , Joel Zavala-Cruz  5 , Ángel I Ortiz-Ceballos  6
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Synergy of the Tropical Earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus and Oil Palm Bagasse in the Removal of Heavy Crude Oil

María Del Carmen Cuevas-Díaz et al. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2022 May.

Abstract

The tropical endogeic earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus, a non-standard species used in ecotoxicity, has been found in crude oil-contaminated habitats. We estimated the removal of total hydrocarbons from heavy crude "Maya" oil on an artificially contaminated soil with a median lethal concentration of P. corethrurus and an addition of oil palm bagasse. P. corethrurus had a high survival rate, and the addition of oil palm bagasse led to a greater growth and an increase in abundance of bacteria and fungi. The activity of P. corethrurus and the nutritional quality of oil palm bagasse had a significant impact on the removal of a larger amount of petroleum hydrocarbons from contaminated soil. We concluded that the endogeic earthworm P. corethrurus and oil palm bagasse acted synergistically to achieve a more effective removal of total petroleum hydrocarbons from soil. These results show the potential for using P. corethrurus to remove, either directly or indirectly, crude oil from soil.

Keywords: Agroecology; Bioaugmentation; Biodegradation; Biostimulation; Bioventilation; Organic contaminants; Petroleum; Soil biota.

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