FATE OF BENZO(A)PYRENE IN THE RHIZOSPHERE OF FESTUCA ARUNDINACEA

E. Lee¹, M.K. Banks¹ and A.P. Schwab²

¹Department of Civil Engineering and ²Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506


ABSTRACT

The objective of this research is to investigate the impact of vegetation—fescue (Festuca arundinacea)—on the fate of carcinogenic and recalcitrant benzo(a)pyrene in soil. The effect of vegetation will be evaluated by determining the distribution of 14C among soil, plant tissue, leachate and carbon dioxide evolved in planted and unplanted soils using plant growth chambers during a 6-month experiment. These data will be analyzed to ascertain if there are differences between vegetated and non-vegetated soils with regard to leaching, degradation, plant uptake and mineralization of the 14C-benzo(a)pyrene. The beneficial effects of vegetation planted in soil contaminated by benzo(a)pyrene is anticipated.

KEY WORDS

vegetation, benzo(a)pyrene, soil, plant, rhizosphere

This paper is from the Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Hazardous Waste Research 1995, published in hard copy and on the Web by the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Hazardous Substance Research Center.