Benzo[a]pyrene removal from soil by Phanerochaete chrysosporium grown on sugarcane bagasse and pine sawdust

The capacity of Phanerochaete chrysosporium grown on soil with added sugarcane baggase (BP) and pine sawdust (PS) to remove benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) was studied. A half factorial two-level experiment 24-1 was designed to determine the effect of: type of lignocellulosic material (BP and PS) for fungus growth, age of fungus (5 and 10 d), amount of lignocellulosic material (10% and 15% w/w) and soil moisture content (water holding capacity of 45% and 56% w/w). Inoculum obtained at different ages showed that the capacity of P. chrysosporium to remove BaP depends on the lignocellulosic used and on inoculum age. Abiotic BaP removal was affected significantly (p < 0.05) by inoculum age, type of lignocellulosic added and soil moisture content. The removal of BaP by lignocellulosic material was more effective by young inocula (71.97 mg BaP kg−1 dry soil), with high percentage of added lignocellulosic (71.57 mg BaP kg−1 dry soil) and at low soil moisture content (73.07 mg BaP kg−1 dry soil). When fungus was grown on BP, maximum BaP removal rate was obtained at 5 d of incubation (10.85 mg BaP d−1 l−1 and 50.12 mg BaP kg−1 dry soil), while in PS maximum BaP removal was obtained at 10 d of incubation (12.06 mg BaP d−1 l−1 and 39.94 mg BaP kg−1 dry soil).