Phytoremediation of pesticide contaminated soils amended with remobilizing surfactants
DAAD Scholarship: Phytoremediation of pesticide contaminated soils amended with remobilizing surfactants - Transformation of chlorinated pesticides in plants by fungi
Project: Phytoremediation von pestizidkontaminierten Böden nach Behandlung mit remobilisierenden Tensiden
Supervision: Prof. Dr. Rolf-Alexander Düring, Prof. Dr. Gerd Hamscher
Person in charge: M.Sc. Marigona Morina Gashi
Duration: 2021-2025
Summary:
Organochlorine pesticides, mainly consisting of DDT and its isomers DDD and DDE, have been widely used for the control of human and animal diseases by treating transmitting insects and pests that caused significant damages in crops. Due to the stability of OCPs in the environment when bound to the soil, there is still no procedure that substantially reduces pollutant concentrations in the soil in-situ within a reasonable period of time. The aim of the study is to present the assessment of phytoremediation as a very good alternative to conventional treatments of soil and to evaluate the ability of distinct fungi (i.e., white rot or brown rot fungi) to transform the accumulated OCPs in plants. In greenhouse experiments, the uptake of OCP from contaminated soil into the plant will be optimized under the use of mobilizing agents, such as biodegradable surfactants. The fate of OCP accumulated in plants will be extensively studied in laboratory experiments with sophisticated analytical methods (GC-MS and LC-HRMS) with regard to emerging transformation products.