In this project, the role of the Soil Microbial Ecology Group at NEIKER-Tecnalia is to (i) design a bioremediation protocol (taking into account both biostimulation and bioaugmentation strategies), in combination with the previous application of zero-valent iron nanoparticles aimed at the reductive dechlorination of organochlorine compounds, for the remediation of industrial soils contaminated with different levels of organochloride compounds; and (ii) assess the impact of the application of zero-valent iron nanoparticles on soil functioning, as reflected by the values of a variety of soil microbial parameters with potential as biological indicators of soil health. To this aim, microbial parameters that provide information on the biomass, activity and diversity of soil microbial communities will be determined during the application of the abovementioned remediation methods.
The different project tasks will be performed at the microcosm and mesocosm scale, as well as in real field situations.
This project is being carried out in collaboration with GAIKER Technological Centre, DINAM and EKOTEK.
