American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 8 (2): 167-172, 2010 ISSN 1818-6769 © IDOSI Publications, 2010 Corresponding Author: Ismail Saadoun, Department of Applied Biology, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, UAE. Tel: +971-6-5053807, Fax: +971-6-5053820 167 Toxicity of Diesel Fuel Towards Plant Seeds as Reflected by Seed Germination Outcomes, Sprout Length and Fresh Weight Ismail Saadoun and Ziad Al-Ghazawi 1 2 Department of Applied Biology, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 1 Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, 2 Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid - 22110, Jordan Abstract: Tolerance of various plant seeds to different concentrations of diesel has been investigated. A noticeable decline in Cochorus olitorius seed germination of 57.7-76.9% was shown at 100 mg kg diesel 1 or higher. However, seeds of Hordeum spontaneum, Triticum aestivum and Atriplex halimus showed a decline of less than 30 % at 100 mg kg diesel or higher with 11.1, 20 and 29.4% decline at 5000 mg kg , respectively. 1 1 The effect of different diesel concentrations was also reflected on the length and fresh weight of sprouts of the tested plants with severe decline (> 50%) of C. olitorius sprouts' length and weight at 5000 mg/kg diesel as compared to the most resistant plant sprouts (T. aestivum) that showed < 15 % decline of both sprouts' length and fersh weight. It appears that the local seed plants (H. spontaneum, T. aestivum and A. halimus) have the ability to germinate with 60% or more at 5000 mg kg diesel. Careful selection of plant species to be used 1 at a particular polluted site should be cautiously approached based on the actual soil and climate conditions and other characteristics of the site. Key words: Diesel Plant seeds Phytoremediation Soil INTRODUCTION biodegradation; phytodegradation; phytoextraction; The pollution with petroleum, heavy metals, An inventory of plant species in terrestrial and xenobiotics, organic compounds and other contaminants wetland environments in western Canada with a is a growing environmental concern that harms both demonstrated potential to phytoremediate or tolerate terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Bioremediation as a petroleum hydrocarbons was developed by Farrell et al. cleanup method and through the exploitation of the [6]. One of the search results generated by this database activities of microorganisms would degrade or attenuate is a list of 11 plant species capable of degrading (or such contaminants. Phytoremediation as one of the assisting in the degradation of) a variety of petroleum developed and implemented technologies of hydrocarbons and which may have potential for bioremediation is another option for cleaning up phytoremediation efforts in western Canada. Novak environmental pollution which, focuses on the use of and AL-Ghazawi [7] reported that both Fescue grass and living green plants (trees, grasses and aquatic plants) for Squash can enhance the bioremediation of hydrocarbon the removal of contaminants and metals from soil, contaminated soils. Broad beans (Vicia faba) and lupine although some phytoremediation applications are (Lupine albus) plants were tested by Radwan et al. [3] believed to work through stimulation of rhizosphere and the results showed that V. faba tolerated up to 10% bacteria by the growing plant root [1]. For hydrocarbon crude oil (sand/crude oil, w/w). However, L. albus died contamination, terrestrial, aquatic and wetland plants and after three weeks of exposure to a 5% oil concentration. algae can be used for the phytoremediation process under Also, the leaflet areas of V. faba and L. albus, were specific cases and conditions [2-4]. The specific respectively reduced by 40 and 13% at a concentration of mechanisms involved in phytoremediation include: 1% of oil. Other plants, such as Bermuda grass and Tall enhanced rhizosphere activity and subsequence fescue were also investigated for their capabilities to phytovolatilization and hydraulic pumping [5].