In the present study, the quality of effluents
from a conventional wastewater treatment plant in Italy has
been analyzed. Residual level of contamination by 4-nnonylphenol,
mono- and di-ethoxylated nonylphenols has
been recorded in the effluents that resulted to be also
phytotoxic and genotoxic. The possibility of exploiting
phytoremediation as a sustainable tertiary treatment for the
depletion of the priority pollutants and for the reduction in
the residual toxicity has been verified at mesocosm scale.
The phyto-based treatment has been performed by the
exploitation of Phragmites australis by either a bacterialassisted
and not assisted approach. In relation to the bacterial-
assisted approach, two new bacterial strains, capable
of using the nonylphenols as a sole carbon source, have
been isolated. One was identified as a plant growth-promoting
rhizobacteria (PGPR) belonging to the Stenotrophomonas
species, and the second one was classified as
a Sphingobium species strain. Both strains were independently
bioaugmented in the P. australis rhizosphere. In
relation to the not assisted approach, the phyto-based
process determined 87, 70 and 87 % for 4-n-nonylphenol,
mono-ethoxylated nonylphenols and di-ethoxylated