Open Access ISSN: 2165-784X Journal of Civil & Environmental Engineering Research Article Volume 10:4, 2020 DOI: 10.37421/jcce.2020.10.349 Abstract Greenhouse assessment of the effect of oil on Chromolaena odorata ability to remove PCB from soil treated with transformer oil co-contaminated with Aroclor 1260 was done. Method: Plants were transplanted into one kilogram of soil contained in 1L pots differently containing 100, 200, and 500 ml of transformer oil (T/O), co-contaminated with 100 ppm of Aroclor. Treatments were done in two microcosms; direct contamination and soil cultured method. Measured plant growth parameters showed that C. odorata growth was affected by the different concentrations of oil. Inhibition of plant growth by oil increased with concentrations. Results: At the end of six weeks, plant growth was affected in T/O amended soil. Plants size was increased by 1.4, 0.46 and -1.0% in direct treatment and 17.01, 6.09 and 1.08% in soil culture at the 100, 200 and 500 ppm respectively. Untreated control showed a 43.07% increase. Slight PCB recovery was observed in root tissues of C. odorata but soil PCB was reduced by 66.6%, 53.2%, 41.5% and 77.3%, 74.7%, 58.8% at both treatments in their respective concentrations of oil. However, unplanted control was reduced by 21.4% and 16.7% in the two treatments at 100 ppm of oil. Conclusion: This study has shown that with improved agronomic practices, there is a possibility of phytoremediation of soil PCB from PCB contained transformer oil contaminated soil using Chromolaena odorata, hence it should be optimized in the field. Keywords: Phytoremediation • Transformer oil contamination • Chromolaena odorata • PCB • Soil remediation • South Africa. Effect of Oil on Phytoremediation of PCB Co-Contamination in Transformer Oil Using Chromolaena odorata Anyasi RO 1 *, Atagana HI 2 and Anyasi Raymond JO 3 1 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa 2 Institute for Science and Technology Education, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa 3 School of Management and Technology, Tshwana University of Technology, Pretoria South Africa *Address for Correspondence: Anyasi RO, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa, Tel: + 0504619676; E-mail: eanyasro@unisa.ac.za Copyright: © 2020 Anyasi RO, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Received 01 July, 2019; Accepted 13 July, 2020; Published 20 July, 2020 Introduction Advances in science and technology have enabled man to exploit natural resources largely, generating unprecedented disturbances in global elemental cycles [1]. The relatively recent introduction of man-made toxic chemicals, and the massive relocation of natural materials to different environmental compartments; soil, ground water, and atmosphere, has resulted in severe pressure on the self-cleansing capacity of recipient ecosystems. Various accumulated pollutants are of concern relative to both human and ecosystem exposure and potential impact. There have been efforts by many authorities in different countries to control the release of contaminants [2], and to accelerate the breakdown of existing contaminants by appropriate remediation techniques. Such techniques and technologies are marred by various disadvantages and usually require relatively high capital expenditure and man power as well as long term operating cost. Hence, recent interests are geared towards developing more cost effective approach to treat large volumes of contaminated natural resources such as soil, ground water and wetlands [3]. Bioremediation is the use of plants and the associated rhizospheric microorganisms to remove, transform, or contain toxic chemicals located in soils, sediments, ground water, surface water, and even the atmosphere [4]. This technique is currently used to treat many classes of contaminants including petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, pesticides, explosives, heavy metals and radionuclides, and landfill leachates [1]. Biological method has been used for hundreds of years to treat human waste, reduce erosion, and protect water quality [5], until about 25 years ago which saw some significant rise in the use of plants known as phytoremediation in the removal of contaminants from the environment [6]. In the present study, C. odorata (Siam weed), was grown in Aroclor 1260 amended transformer oil-contaminated soil in order to study the effect of oil on the ability of plants in the remediation of soil-PCB from a transformer oil impacted soil. This is of importance as literatures have only reported on plants remediation of PCB without considering the impact of co-contamination of the oil, considering the fact that PCB has not been used in isolation [7,8]. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a family of anthropogenic organic compounds that is persistent in the environment causing its bioaccumulative phenomenon that enables the contaminant to be found in every part of the environment. PCB is commercially produced by direct chlorination of biphenyls [9]. A good commercial form of PCB is Aroclor 1254 and 1260, although other brand names exist [10]. Various negative health effects in humans as well as the animals are linked to PCB compounds, this call for an urgent action on how the compound can be removed from the environment [11,12]. The physico- chemical properties of PCB depend on the congener composition, but generally they are resistant to acids and bases, resistant to oxidation and hydrolysis, thermally stable, excellent electrical insulators, sparingly soluble in water and have low flammability [13]. These characteristics conforms the usefulness of PCBs in diverse industrial applications, such as liquid components of transformers, capacitors, heat-exchangers, and vacuum pumps. PCB mixtures have also been used in open systems, such as plasticizers, drinking solvents, water-proofing agents, sealing liquids, fire retardants and pesticides [14-17]. Transformer oil also known as insulating oil is a highly refined mineral oil