[Bioremediation of chromium (VI) contaminated site by reduction and microbial stabilization of chromium]

Chromium (VI) contaminated soil samples were collected from a chemical plant in Suzhou. Firstly, the reduced soil was prepared by adding reagent (Stone-sulfure reagent) into polluted soil to transfer most chromium (VI) into chromium (III), then a nutrient solution was introduced into the reduced soil, and the stabilized soil was obtained after 60 days culturing. The chromium (VI) content of the three kinds of soil was analyzed. The results showed that the chromium (VI) content in toxicity characteristic leaching liquid (TCLL) dropped by 96. 8% (from 8.26 mg · L(-1) to 0.26 mg · L(-1)), and the total chromium content dropped by 95.7% (from 14.66 mg · L(-1) to 0.63 mg · L(-1)) after bioremediation in 5% nutrient solution. Additionally, the durability of chromium stabilization was tested by potassium permanganate oxidation and sterilization of microbe-treated soil. After oxidation, the chromium (VI) content in TCLL of the reduced soil was increased from 8.26 mg · L(-1) to 14.68 mg · L(-1). However, the content after bioremediation was decreased to 2.68 mg · L(-1). The results of sterilization demonstrated that the death of microbe had no significant effect on the stabilization of chromium. Consequently, the research in this paper demonstrated the feasibility of bioremediation of chromium (VI) polluted soil through reduction followed by stabilization/soilidification, and provided a technique with low cost but high efficiency.