The bioremediation of soils contaminated with PAHs is limited by the poor availability of these hydrophobic contaminants
to microorganisms. Surfactants can help, by solubilization or emulsification, to release hydrocarbons sorbed to soil organic
matter and increase the aqueous concentrations of hydrophobic compounds, resulting in higher mass transfer rates. Contradictory results are found in the literature about the effects of addition of synthetic and biologically produced surfactants on PAH biodegradation. However, recent studies indicate that they can enhance hydrocarbon biodegradation by increasing microbial accessibility to insoluble substrates. Several researchers have investigated the addition of biosurfactants to enhance the biodegradation of hydrocarbons.
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