Enzymatic activity in an airfield soil polluted with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Stanisl aw Baran, Jolanta E. Bielin ´ska, Patryk Oleszczuk * Institute of Soil Science and Environmental Management, University of Agriculture in Lublin, ul. Leszczyn ´skiego 7, 20-069 Lublin, Poland Received 7 May 2002; accepted 2 May 2003 Abstract The relation between the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and enzymatic activity (dehydrogenase, phosphatase, urease and protease) was evaluated in soils collected from the area of a military airfield in De ˛blin (SE Poland). Soils subjected to spot pollution sources as well as scattered pollution were analysed. It may be concluded that the influence of PAHs on the enzymatic activity depends to a significant level on soil properties like total organic carbon (TOC) content and pH. For some samples, a stimulating influence of PAH on dehydrogenase activity and biochemical potential fertility indicator was shown, which was attributed to an adaptation of the soil microflora and the use of the pollutant as a C and energy source. D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Soil enzymes; Airport soils; Dehydrogenase; Phosphatase; Urease; Protease; Fertility indicator 1. Introduction In Poland and other countries, soil pollution by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is a seri- ous problem (Jones et al., 1989; Wcislo, 1998), especially in the vicinity of industrial plants (Jones et al., 1989), petroleum refineries (Bakker et al., 2000), motorways (Adamczewska et al., 2000), air- fields (Barcan et al., 2000), petrol stations (Adamc- zewska et al., 2000) and wastewater treatment plants (Jiries et al., 2000). At airfields and in the vicinity of petrol stations, both spot and scattered soil pollution can appear. Pollutants introduced into the soil exert an influ- ence on the microbiota, which manifests itself in changes in enzyme activity, soil respiration, biomass and microbial counts. These parameters are most often used for the description of the general condition of soil microorganisms (Schinner et al., 1996; Margesin and Schinner, 1997; Margesin et al., 2000a,b; Van Beelen and Doelman, 1997). Soil enzymes are the catalysts of important me- tabolic processes including the decomposition of or- ganic input and the detoxification of xenobiotics (Margesin et al., 2000b). Many authors carried out studies on the influence of pesticides (Gianfreda et al., 1993; Sannino and Gianfreda, 2001), heavy metals (Brookes, 1995; Leiro ´s et al., 1999) and other pollu- tants (Frankenberger and Johanson, 1982) on enzyme activity of soil. Enzymatic tests are used also when the 0016-7061/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0016-7061(03)00205-2 * Corresponding author. Fax: +48-81-532-26-32. E-mail address: patol@consus.ar.lublin.pl (P. Oleszczuk). www.elsevier.com/locate/geoderma Geoderma 118 (2004) 221 – 232