Biorremediación de Suelos Contaminados con Hidrocarburos Derivados del Patróleo del Campamento Sacha -161 Utilizando el Hongo Pleurotus ostreatus.

Abstract

The Center for Services and Environmental Technology Transfer (CESTTA), through the Ministry of the Environment, presented a project whose objective was to demonstrate that, using the fungus Pleurotus ostreatus as an alternative to remediate soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons, bioremediation times are improved, given its capacity to produce ligninolytic enzymes that degrade hydrocarbons. Contaminated soil from the spill area was used, as inoculum, strains of Pleurotus ostreatus var. Florida, and the treatment was ex-situ in the laboratories of the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH). Deductive and experimental methods were applied, statistical analysis was performed with ADEVA and Tukey's test to determine optimal concentrations. The concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) was determined by chromatographic techniques, before and after treatment with the fungus. Sterilized samples were used and inoculated with 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 g of fungal mass in 3000 g of substrate, respectively, achieving a drop between 94.5 - 97.5% of TPH in two months and with a process efficiency of 95.5%. - 97.5%. Non-sterilized samples were also used, which were inoculated with 4, 7, 11 and 17% by volume of inoculum, lowering the TPH between 95.2% - 96.7%, with a process efficiency of 95% - 97% also in a period of two months. These results demonstrate the efficiency of this bioremediation method, which uses the Pleurotus ostreatus fungus as an inoculum, which is obtained from substrates considered as residues of agricultural activity, to remedy soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons, generating in the inhabitants of the area a social, economic and environmental benefit.