Research Article
Bioremediation of Soil Contaminated with Tannery Effluent by Combined Treatment with Cow Dung and Microorganisms Isolated from Tannery Effluent
Akpomie Olubunmi O and Ejechi Bernard O*
Department of Microbiology, Delta State University, PMB 1 Abraka, Nigeria
- Corresponding Author:
- Ejechi Bernard O
Department of Microbiology, Delta State
University, PMB 1 Abraka, Nigeria
Tel: (662)846-4675
E-mail: ejechiben@gmail.com
Received date: April 29, 2016; Accepted date: May 05, 2016; Published date: May 23, 2016
Citation: Akpomie Olubunmi O, Ejechi Bernard O (2016) Bioremediation of Soil Contaminated with Tannery Effluent by Combined Treatment with Cow Dung and Microorganisms Isolated from Tannery Effluent. J Bioremed Biodeg 7:354. doi:10.4172/2155-6199.1000354
Copyright: © 2016 Akpomie Olubunmi O, et al. This is an open-a ccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Bioremediation potential of a combination of cow dung and a microbial consortium (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus niger) in soil contaminated with tannery effluent, was investigated in the laboratory. Concentrations of phenol, sulphide and ammonium nitrogen in contaminated soil, were significantly reduced (P=0.000) to permissible levels after treatment with microbial consortium, cow dung or combination of microbial consortium and cow dung. Reduction of these compounds was best with combination of microbial consortium and cow dung. Cr (VI) level (139.2 mg/kg) was significantly reduced (P=0.000-0.050) by 33.2, 96.9 and 99.9% after treatment with microbial consortium, cow dung, and combination of consortium and cow dung, respectively. The treatments elevated soil pH from 5.8 to 6.9-7.2. Growth of maize in soil treated with the combination of microbial consortium and cow dung was not significantly different from growth in uncontaminated soil. Cr (VI) concentrations in the maize tissues were very low (0.002-0.006 mg/g). Thus combination of microbial consortium and cow dung may have potential application in bioremediation of soil polluted by tannery wastes.
