soil resulted in residual hydrocarbon contents of 2735, 2830, 3329 and 3843 mg kg-l soil, respectively
(Fig. 4). Hydrocarbon degradation by the indigenous soil microrganisms could be calculated from the
difference between hydrocarbon losses in poisoned and non-poisoned soil. While 38% biodegradation was
noticed in the absence of SDS, biodegradation in presence of SDS was only 20-30%.