Organic amendments of contaminated soil for improving phyto-assisted bioremediation

This paper reports the application of organic amendments, such as biochar (BC) or compost(CMP) in a Plant-assisted bioremediation (PABR) strategy of a soil contaminated bypolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals (HM). BC and CMP were applied forimproving PABR in specific plots where the highest amounts of PCBs were present. Before theorganic treatments and six months after it, soil samples and plant tissue (leaves, shoots and roots) were collected from each investigated plot and chemical and microbiological analysesperformed. Moreover, micro-X ray fluorescence (µXRF) analysis was performed on soil andbiomass (leaves, roots). Preliminary results evidenced different effects of the CMP or BC onpromoting PCB and HM removal, depending on the initial pollutant concentrations