Determinación de la capacidad fitorremediadora de las especies Zea mays, Cajanus cajan y Panicum maximum, para suelos contaminados con TPH en la parroquia San Luis de Armenia, provincia de Orellana

Abstract

Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) contamination in San Luis de Armenia parish, has significant impacts on humans, who, when exposed to TPH in a chronic or acute manner, will produce different health effects, such as skin, eye and respiratory tract irritation. For this reason, phytoremediation was implemented as an environmental strategy through the use of the plant species Corn (Zea mays), Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan) and Grass (Panicum maximum), with the purpose of evaluating their effectiveness in the degradation of TPH in the soil, considering the tolerance of each species and the concentration levels of contaminants present. The methodology adopted integrated a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach organized in three sequential phases. In the first phase, a bibliographic review was carried out, the second phase consisted of a field study that involved the collection of soil samples and their analysis in the laboratory to determine the initial concentrations of TPH according to EPA methods 3550 B, 418.1/56 and in the third phase, a completely randomized experimental design was implemented that included the selection of samples and their analysis in the laboratory to evaluate the phytoremediation capacity of the plant species selected in this study. Through the application of this methodology, initial data were obtained for each of the blocks (plant species), obtaining values of 30,866 for block 1, 42,871 for block 2 and 109 for block 3. Likewise, the removal values by the plant species were determined, resulting in 2.27 for Zea mays, 1.93 for Panicum maximum and 15.57 for Cajanus cajan. The study showed considerable phytoremediation potential in the plant species evaluated. Panicum maximum was particularly noteworthy, achieving a TPH removal percentage of 1.93 at an initial concentration of 42,871 mg/kg.