Combined phytotoxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and triton x-100 or tween 80 on seedling growth of mirabilis jalapa and hibiscus sabdariffa

Abstract

Use of synthetic surfactant is another choice to increase efficiency of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) phytoremediation in soil. In this study the toxicity of soil contaminated with anthracene and fluoranthene at total concentration as 0, 200 and 800 mg/kg in combination with 2 synthetic surfactants, that were triton x-100 and tween 80, at concentration as 0, 1 and 10 times of critical micelle concentration (CMC) on seedling growth of Hibiscus sabdariffa and Mirabilis jalapa. Both synthetic surfactants were watered separately on day 13 after inoculation and seedling growth were measured on day 20 after inoculation. The result shown that both H. sabdariffa and M. jalapa could grow in soil contaminated with anthracene and fluoranthene at all concentrations in combination with both synthetic surfactants. Tween 80 at 1 time of CMC were the least toxic to H. sabdariffa while toxicity of all surfactants on M. jalapa were not different. Decrease of plant growth depended on the increasing of PAH concentration in soil. With these reasons, both plants were possible to use for PAH phytoremediation at total concentration 200 mg/kg in combination with synthetic surfactant