Effects of vegetable oil residue after soil extraction on physical-chemical properties of sandy soil

Vegetable oil has the ability to extract polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from contaminated sandy soft for a remediation purpose, with some of the oft remaining in the soil. Although most of the PAHs were removed, the risk of residue oil in the soft was not known. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the vegetable oil residue on higher plant growth and sandy soft properties after soil extraction for a better understanding of the soil remediation. Addition of sunflower oil and column experiment were performed on a PAH contaminated soil and/or a control soft, respectively. Soils were incubated for 90 d, and soil pH was measured during the soil incubation. Higher plant growth bioassays with Avena sativa L. (oat) and Brassica rapa L. (turnip) were performed after the incubation, and then soil organic carbon contents were measured. The results show that both the nutrient amendment and the sunflower oil degradation resulted in the decrease of soil pH. When these two process worked together, their effects were counteracted due to the consumption of the nutrients and oil removal, resulting in different pH profiles. Growth ofA. sativa was adversely affected by the sunflower oil, and the nutrient amendments stimulated the A. sativa growth significantly. B. rapa was more sensitive to the sunflower oil than A. sativa. Only 1% sunflower oft addition plus nutrient amendment stimulated B. rapa growth. All the other treatments on B. rapa inhibited its growth significantly. The degradation of the sunflower oft in the soils was proved by the soft organic carbon content.