Effect of Chicken droppings amendment on bioremediation of crude oil polluted soil

The effect of poultry droppings on bioremediation of crude oil-polluted soil was evaluated. Various concentrations of the poultry droppings (10%, 30%, and 50%) were also studied. The physicochemical and microbiological properties of the soil were monitored for a period of 6 months. The poultry droppings had total heterotrophic bacterial and fungal counts of 4.2 × 104cfu/g and 1.8 × 104cfu/g respectively. The total hydrocarbon utilizers increased progressively from month 2 to month 3, after which a decline from month 4 down occurred. The total heterotrophic microbial counts also increased from month 2 to month 4 followed by a decline from month 5 down. The control showed slight increase in microbial growth. The microbial growth rate increased as the concentration of the poultry droppings increased. Statistical analyses showed a significant difference at (PAƒâ€¹A‚â€s0.05), level between the amended options and control. The total hydrocarbon content of the oil-polluted soil decreased from 6609.83 to 2951.37ml/g. Bacillusspp, Pseudomonas spp, Flavobacterium spp, Fusarium spp and Aspergillus spp were isolated. Alkaline pH condition was observed in the poultry droppings as well as in the amended soils at 50 % and lower at the control. Ecotoxicity assay, measured in terms of germination index was used to evaluate the extent of contaminant removal. Using seeds of Viciafaba, germination index of 95 % was observed in the 50 % amended option only. The study therefore showed that poultry droppings can serve as a good remediation material in the reclamation of a crude oil-polluted lithosphere.