Biodegradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Crude Oil by Bacillus cereus Isolate: GC-FID Analysis and PAH Characterization

This paper assessed the bio degradation ability of a local isolate of Bacillus cereus on crude oil polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The GC-FID analysis of the biodegraded sample (HD 5) on a ZB-5 capillary column showed that eight chromatographic peaks were observed, with the most considerable peak at 1.808 min (99.00% of total area), suggesting that there was extensive degradation of medium and heavy molecular weight hydrocarbons. HPLC analysis of 16 EPA priority PAHs in the US provided an overall residual concentration of 546.59 ppm. In comparison to medium molecular weight PAHs (4 rings, 42.32 ppm), low molecular weight PAHs (2-3 rings) had a lower mean residual concentration (28.50 ppm) and the same result confirms that lighter compounds were preferentially degraded. The results highlight the potential of using B.cereus as a bioremediation in the treatment of petroleum contaminated environments.