Microcosm experiment for assessing sunflower capability to grow on a PCB-contaminated soil

Phyto-technologies are nature-based solutions that can solve contamination problems in a sustainable and economic way. This work reports the preliminary results of a microcosm experiment in plant pots for evaluating sunflower capabilities in bioremediation of a soil contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals (HM), collected from an area close to Taranto (Apulia Region, Southern Italy). Municipal solid waste compost of high quality was also used for evaluating the possible enhancement of plant-assisted bioremediation. At the start of the experiment, chemical analyses of soil organic contaminants (PCB total congeners and sum of tri- tetra-, penta-, hexa-, and epta-CB isomeric classes together with PCB markers, dioxin-like non-dioxin-like congeners) and inorganic ones (heavy metals such as Zn, Sn and Pb) highlighted that regulatory limits were exceeded. The sunflower-assisted bioremediation is in progress and further samplings will be performed at 45 and 90 days.