Assessment of benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene, and xylene (BTEX) toxicity in soil using sulfur-oxidizing bacterial (SOB) bioassay

Ecological Risk Assessment of Three Pesticide Additives in Soil and Application to the Remediation of Contaminated Soil

Pesticide additives (PAs) are auxiliary ingredients added to the pesticide manufacturing and use processes, constituting 1% to 99% of the pesticide and often composed of benzene and chlorinated hydrocarbons. We selected three typical PAs, toluene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene, to evaluate their retention function toxicity and ecological risk in soil. Soil immobilization techniques and aquatic model organisms were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the immobilized soil method to determine the ecological risk of chemicals. The 48-h median lethal concentrations of toluene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene alone in spiked soil on Daphnia magna were 10.5, 2.3, and 1.1 mg/L (medium, high, and high toxicity, respectively). The toxicity of the three-PA mixtures showed an antagonistic effect. The risk levels of toluene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene in the soil were evaluated as moderate to high, low to high, and high risk, respectively. The toxicity of two pesticide-contaminated sites in the Yangtze River Delta before and after remediation was successfully evaluated by immobilized soil technology. The toxicity of two soil sampling points was reduced from medium toxic to low toxic and no toxic, respectively, after remediation. The results of our study give a rationale for and prove the validity of the aquatic model organisms and soil immobilization techniques in assessing the soil retention functions toxicity of PAs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;00:1-13. © 2024 SETAC.

Mechanisms of benzene and benzo[a]pyrene biodegradation in the individually and mixed contaminated soils

There is a lack of knowledge on the biodegradation mechanisms of benzene and benzo [a]pyrene (BaP), representative compounds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), under individually and mixed contaminated soils. Therefore, a set of microcosm experiments were conducted to explore the influence of benzene and BaP on biodegradation under individual and mixed contaminated condition, and their subsequent influence on native microbial consortium. The results revealed that the total mass loss of benzene was 56.0% under benzene and BaP mixed contamination, which was less than that of individual benzene contamination (78.3%). On the other hand, the mass loss of BaP was slightly boosted to 17.6% under the condition of benzene mixed contamination with BaP from that of individual BaP contamination (14.4%). The significant differences between the microbial and biocide treatments for both benzene and BaP removal demonstrated that microbial degradation played a crucial role in the mass loss for both contaminants. In addition, the microbial analyses revealed that the contamination of benzene played a major role in the fluctuations of microbial compositions under co-contaminated conditions. Rhodococcus, Nocardioides, Gailla, and norank_c_Gitt-GS-136 performed a major role in benzene biodegradation under individual and mixed contaminated conditions while Rhodococcus, Noviherbaspirillum, and Phenylobacterium were highly involved in BaP biodegradation. Moreover, binary benzene and BaP contamination highly reduced the Rhodococcus abundance, indicating the toxic influence of co-contamination on the functional key genus. Enzymatic activities revealed that catalase, lipase, and dehydrogenase activities proliferated while polyphenol oxidase was reduced with contamination compared to the control treatment. These results provided the fundamental information to facilitate the development of more efficient bioremediation strategies, which can be tailored to specific remediation of different contamination scenarios.

A direct contact bioassay using immobilized microalgal balls to evaluate the toxicity of contaminated field soils

The present study used a bioassay of immobilized microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris) via direct contact to assess the toxicity of eleven uncontaminated (reference) and five field contaminated soils with various physicochemical properties and contamination. Photosynthetic oxygen concentration in the headspace of the test kit by Chlorella vulgaris in the reference soils ranged between 12.93% and 14.80% and only 2.54%-7.14% in the contaminated soils, respectively. Inherent test variability (CV_i) values ranged between 2.90% and 9.04%; variation due to soil natural properties (CV_rs) ranged between 0.33% and 13.0%; and minimal detectable difference (MDD) values ranged from 4.69% to 11.6%. A computed toxicity threshold of 15% was established for microalgae soil toxicity tests based on calculations of the maximal tolerable inhibition (MTI). All contaminated soils were considered toxic to microalgae because their levels of inhibition ranged between 39.5% and 82.9%, exceeding the 15% toxicity threshold. It can be concluded that the elevated concentrations of heavy metals and organic contaminants in the contaminated soils induced the higher inhibitory levels. Overall, direct contact soil toxicity tests using immobilized microalgae provided coherent and repeatable data and can be utilized as a simple and suitable tool for the toxicity testing of contaminated field soils.

Aislamiento y caracterización de bacterias endémicas colombianas con capacidad de degradar tolueno

Los hidrocarburos aromáticos monocíclicos: benceno, tolueno, etilbenceno y xileno (BTEX), presentes en crudo y refinados de petróleo, hacen parte de los compuestos con más impacto en el medio ambiente y la salud humana, debido a su naturaleza cancerígena, mutagénica y altamente tóxica. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo obtener y caracterizar bacterias capaces de degradar tolueno. Se realizaron tres muestreos de suelo contaminado con hidrocarburos del Valle del Cauca en tres condiciones: gasolinería, derrame accidental y taller mecánico. Se aislaron bacterias capaces de crecer en tolueno vapor como única fuente de carbono y se caracterizaron a nivel morfológico, bioquímico y molecular. Para la caracterización molecular se amplificó, secuenció y analizó con herramientas bioinformáticas el gen ribosomal 16S. Se evaluó la utilización de tolueno directo con concentración al 1% como única fuente de carbono. Se logró aislar 29 bacterias con capacidad de metabolizar tolueno. La caracterización bioquímica y molecular identificó a las bacterias aisladas de suelo contaminado como Pseudomonas y Stenotrophomonas. Las bacterias aisladas en el taller mecánico resultaron ser los microorganismos con mejor crecimiento en tolueno como fuente de carbono, poseen un gran potencial para ser utilizadas para fines de biorremediación de suelos y aguas contaminadas con BTEX.

A direct contact bioassay using sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) for toxicity assessment of contaminated field soils

In this study, 11 low/uncontaminated (including Lufa 2.2) and 9 contaminated field soils with varying geophysical and physicochemical characteristics were evaluated for toxicities based on oxygen consumption of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB). Oxygen consumption of the low/uncontaminated soils ranged between 7.9 mL and 9.5 mL, while contaminated soils ranged between 0.4 mL and 5.4 mL. Inherent test variability (CV_i), variation due to soil natural properties (CV_ns) and minimal detectable difference (MDD) values ranged 1.2%-3.9%, 3.5%-16.9%, and 2.1%-4.3%, respectively. The toxicity threshold of 20% was established for soil toxicity based maximal tolerable inhibition (MTI). All the contaminated soils were found to be toxic and showed inhibition between 42% and 100% above the 20% threshold value. Increased proportions of clay and slit enhanced the of inhibitory effect of contaminants on SOB by reducing the oxygen consumption. Current study provides a suitable method for the rapid toxicity assessment of contaminated field soils with the advantages of ease of handling and rapidity without employing elutriates and sophisticated equipments and tools.

Estimation of hazardous concentration of toluene in the terrestrial ecosystem through the species sensitivity distribution approach

Toluene is a highly flammable and commonly used industrial chemical with severe health consequences on humans upon exposure and ingestion. In this study, multispecies bioassays were conducted using a species sensitivity distribution approach to determine acute and chronic hazardous concentrations of toluene in soil. Acute and chronic toluene toxicity tests were conducted with seven soil species from four taxonomic groups. The results from the toxicity tests were used to estimate the acute and chronic HC₅ (hazardous concentration for 5 % of species) of toluene in the terrestrial environment at 58.9 (5.4-639.6) mg kg^-1 and 2.2 (0.2-19.8) mg kg^-1, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to estimate the hazardous concentration of toluene in soil by conducting a battery of bioassays. These values can be used as references for the environmental risk assessment of chemical accidents involving toluene and estimating its impact on soil to protect the terrestrial environment.

Mutagenicity Assessment to Pesticide Adjuvants of Toluene, Chloroform, and Trichloroethylene by Ames Test

Pesticide adjuvants (PAs) denote the general term for auxiliaries in pesticide preparations except for the active components. Toluene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene are the three most commonly used PAs as organic solvents. The residues of the three chemicals in the process of production and application of pesticides may endanger the ecosystem. In the present study, the mutagenicity of toluene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene as well the mixture of the three chemicals was tested by the Salmonella typhimurium reverse mutation test (Ames test) with TA97, TA98, TA100, and TA102 strains in the system with and without rat liver microsomal preparations (S9). The four tester strains have been used for more than 40 years to detect mutagenic compounds in chemicals, cosmetics, and environmental samples. The mutagenicity was detected on tester strains in the separated experiment from the three chemicals. The addition of S9 decreased the mutation ratios of toluene to four strains, except for the TA100 strain, but increased the mutation ratios of chloroform to four strains except for the TA98 strain. Trichloroethylene caused positive mutagenicity to become negative on the TA102 strain. In the mixed experiment, positive effects were detected only on the TA102 strain in the absence of S9. The addition of S9 increased the mutagenicity except for the TA102 strain. The mixture of toluene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene showed antagonism in mutagenicity to tester strains, except for the TA102 strain without S9. However, the mixture showed a synergistic effect to tester strains after adding S9 except for the TA98 strain.

Toluene induces hormetic response of soil alkaline phosphatase and the potential enzyme kinetic mechanism

Hormesis of soil enzyme that involved in heavy metal has been attracting much more attention for risk assessment of heavy metal toxicity, but insufficient studies were conducted to define the hormetic responses induced by toluene or other organic pollutions. The objectives of this study were to investigate the hormetic responses of soil enzyme induced by toluene and explore the potential enzyme kinetic mechanism. Soil alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was regarded as the endpoint to explore the hormetic responses under different doses of toluene (0.0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 5.0, 10.0, 50.0 and 100.0 μL g^-1). Subsequently, we conducted the experiments of enzymatic reaction kinetics and pure enzyme to further verify the potential mechanisms of soil ALP's hormesis. Results showed that ALP activities at 0.1-1.0 μL g^-1 toluene were significantly increased in contrast to the control (0 μL g^-1 toluene) (P < 0.05) at the exposure time of 30, 36, 48 and 54 h, with the maximum stimulation magnitudes of 24-43%. ALP activities were almost not affected by toluene (2-100 μL L^-1) in the whole experimental period (6-54 h). Meanwhile, the values of catalytic efficiency (the radio V_max/K_m, V_max: maximum reaction velocity and K_m: Michaelis constant) and V_max significantly increased compared with the control, but the value of K_m decreased from 2.5 to 1.6. Overall, low dose toluene can induce hormesis of soil ALP. The potential reason is that low-dose toluene could enhance the combination of soil ALP and substrates. We believe that this study will provide a new viewpoint for ecological risk assessment of toluene contaminated soils.

A Microbial Bioassay for Direct Contact Assessment of Soil Toxicity Based on Oxygen Consumption of Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria

A new direct contact assessment of soil toxicity using sulfur oxidizing bacteria (SOB) is proposed for analyzing the toxicity of soils. The proposed method is based on the ability of SOB to oxidize elemental sulfur to sulfuric acid in the presence of oxygen. Since sulfate ions are produced from sulfur by SOB oxidation activity, changes in electrical conductivity (EC) serve as a proxy to assess toxicity in water. However, in soil medium, EC values are not reliable due to the adsorption of SO₄ ^2- ions by soils. Here, we suggest a new parameter which measures oxygen consumption by SOB for 6 hours to assess soil toxicity by using a lubricated glass syringe method. The proposed method is rapid, simple, cost- effective as well as sensitive and capable of assessing direct contact soil toxicity.

The catalytic oxidation of toluene at low temperature over palladium nanoparticles supported on Alumina sphere catalysts: effects of Palladium precursors and preparation method

In this study, 1 wt.% Pd/Al2O3 sphere catalysts were prepared using the wet-impregnation (WI) and deposition-precipitation (DP) method using palladium chloride and tetraamminepalladium (II) nitrate as salt precursors. All catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The catalytic activity in toluene oxidation under gas-phase conditions was measured. The obtained results showed that metal dispersion and catalytic activity were strongly dependent on the salt precursor and method of catalyst preparation. The use of tetraamminepalladium (II) nitrate as the precursor presented smaller particle size, an enhanced dispersion and higher specific surface area. Moreover, the catalyst prepared with this precursor also showed higher catalytic activity than that prepared with palladium chloride. At 1 wt.% Pd loading, complete oxidation of toluene was achieved at 250°C. However, there was only approximately 80–90% efficient at the same temperature when the catalyst was prepared with palladium chloride as the precursor.

lncRNAVNN3 mediated benzene-induced hematotoxicity through promoting autophagy and apoptosis

The potential toxicity of low-dose benzene exposure to human health has received attention, but the mechanisms of low-dose benzene-induced hematotoxicity remain largely unknown. The purpose of our study was to investigate the relationships between lncRNAVNN3 expression with benzene-induced autophagy and apoptosis in control and benzene-exposed workers. Seventy benzene-exposed workers and seventy non-benzene-exposed healthy workers were recruited. The expression of lncRNAVNN3, serum autophagy-associated and apoptosis-associated proteins were evaluated, and the relationship among them were also analysed. Furthermore, the mechanism of lncRNAVNN3 on autophagy and apoptosis induced by benzene metabolite (1, 4-benzoquinone, 1, 4-BQ) was investigated in vitro. The results showed that the expression of lncRNAVNN3 increased in benzene-exposed workers (p < 0.05). A positive correlation was found between lncRNAVNN3, serum autophagy-associated and apoptosis-associated proteins. In addition, we found that the knockdown of lncRNAVNN3 reduced phosphorylation of beclin1 and Bcl-2, which mediated 1, 4-benzoquinone-induced autophagy and apoptosis. Overall, lncRNAVNN3 mediated 1, 4-benzoquinone-induced autophagy and apoptosis though regulating phosphorylation of beclin1 and Bcl-2, suggesting that lncRNAVNN3 might be a novel early sensitive biomarker of benzene-induced hematotoxicity.