Report on the fifth meeting of INRA’s national network of ecotoxicologists,ECOTOX

The fifth meeting of INRA’s national network of ecotoxicologists took place on 25 to 27 November 2014 in Biarritz, France. The main aim of the meeting was to bring together ecotoxicologists from INRA and associated partners, providing them ample opportunity to share and discuss their latest scientific results as well as the national policy of research in ecotoxicology and to precise perspectives for the network.     

Development and implementation of eco-genomic tools for aquatic ecosystem biomonitoring: the SYNAQUA French-Swiss program

The effectiveness of environmental protection measures is based on the early identification and diagnosis of anthropogenic pressures. Similarly, restoration actions require precise monitoring of changes in the ecological quality of ecosystems, in order to highlight their effectiveness. Monitoring the ecological quality relies on bioindicators, which are organisms revealing the pressures exerted on the environment through the composition of their communities. Their implementation, based on the morphological identification of species, is expensive because it requires time and experts in taxonomy. Recent genomic tools should provide access to reliable and high-throughput environmental monitoring by directly inferring the composition of bioindicators’ communities from their DNA (metabarcoding). The French-Swiss program SYNAQUA (INTERREG France-Switzerland 2017–2019) proposes to use and validate the tools of environmental genomic for biomonitoring and aims ultimately at their implementation in the regulatory bio-surveillance. SYNAQUA will test the metabarcoding approach focusing on two bioindicators, diatoms, and aquatic oligochaetes, which are used in freshwater biomonitoring in France and Switzerland. To go towards the renewal of current biomonitoring practices, SYNAQUA will (1) bring together different actors: scientists, environmental managers, consulting firms, and biotechnological companies, (2) apply this approach on a large scale to demonstrate its relevance, (3) propose robust and reliable tools, and (4) raise public awareness and train the various actors likely to use these new tools. Biomonitoring approaches based on such environmental genomic tools should address the European need for reliable, higher-throughput monitoring to improve the protection of aquatic environments under multiple pressures, guide their restoration, and follow their evolution.     

Anaerobic biodegradation of cellulosic material: Batch experiments and modelling based on isotopic data and focusing on aceticlastic and non-aceticlastic methanogenesis

Utilizing stable carbon isotope data to account for aceticlastic and non-aceticlastic pathways of methane generation, a model was created to describe laboratory batch anaerobic decomposition of cellulosic materials (office paper and cardboard). The total organic and inorganic carbon concentrations, methane production volume, and methane and CO₂ partial pressure values were used for the model calibration and validation. According to the fluorescent in situ hybridization observations, three groups of methanogens including strictly hydrogenotrophic methanogens, strictly aceticlastic methanogens (Methanosaeta sp.) and Methanosarcina sp., consuming both acetate and H₂/H₂CO₃ as well as acetate-oxidizing syntrophs, were considered. It was shown that temporary inhibition of aceticlastic methanogens by non-ionized volatile fatty acids or acidic pH was responsible for two-step methane production from office paper at 35 °C where during the first and second steps methane was generated mostly from H₂/H₂CO₃ and acetate, respectively. Water saturated and unsaturated cases were tested. According to the model, at the intermediate moisture (150%), much lower methane production occurred because of full-time inhibition of aceticlastic methanogens. At the lowest moisture, methane production was very low because most likely hydrolysis was seriously inhibited. Simulations showed that during cardboard and office paper biodegradation at 55 °C, non-aceticlastic syntrophic oxidation by acetate-oxidizing syntrophs and hydrogenotrophic methanogens were the dominant methanogenic pathways.     

Effect of inoculum to substrate ratio (I/S) on municipal solid waste anaerobic degradation kinetics and potential

The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of the inoculum to substrate ratio (I/S) on the anaerobic degradation potential of municipal solid waste (MSW). Reconstituted MSW samples were thus incubated under batch anaerobic conditions and inoculated with an increasing amount of inoculum originating from a mesophilic sludge digester. I/S tested values were 0 (no inoculum added), 0.015, 0.03, 0.06, 0.12, 0.25, 1, 2 and 4 (gVM_inoculum/gVM_waste). The results indicate that the apparent maximal rate of dissolved organic carbon accumulation is reached at I/S = 0.12. Under this level, the hydrolysis process is limited by the concentration of biomass and can thus be described as first order kinetics phenomena with respect to biomass for I/S ratios below 0.12. The maximum methane production rate and the minimal latency are reached at a ratio of 2. In addition to that, both methane signature and ARISA show a shift in the methanogenic populations from hydrogenotrophic to acetoclastic.     

生物质组成差异对生活垃圾厌氧产甲烷化的影响

采用批式实验,通过分析液相性质和产气过程,比较了生活垃圾中2 类主要的生物质组分(食物类废物和纤维类废物)及其不同含量在厌氧降解时甲烷生成过程的差异.结果表明,食物类废物累积产甲烷量远高于纤维类废物,其有机物的快速水解酸化,为快速产甲烷化提供了必要的底物.纤维类废物产甲烷速率相对较低,水解是其厌氧产甲烷化过程的控制步骤.生活垃圾的产甲烷量可以根据食物类废物和纤维类废物的比例推算而得,食物类废物含量越高,其累积产甲烷量越大.采用厌氧消化工艺有利于含食物类废物量高的垃圾的能量回收,而因食物类废物快速水解导致的液相挥发性有机酸积累是该工艺必须解决的关键性技术问题.     

含水率对生活垃圾甲烷化过程的影响

采用批式实验,通过分析产气量和气、液相组成的变化,比较了含水率分别在35%、65%～70%（田间持水率）、 80%和>95%（饱和含水率）的条件下,不同食物类废物和纤维素类废物含量的典型法国生活垃圾和中国生活垃圾以及纤维素类废物厌氧产甲烷过程的差异.结果表明,对于含易腐有机物的生活垃圾,提高含水率能够削弱VFA等中间产物对水解酸化和甲烷化的抑制作用：典型法国生活垃圾大量产甲烷所需的含水率不应低于80%,而有机物含量更高的典型中国生活垃圾直至含水率达到96%时,反应体系内快速产甲烷过程才能得以进行;同时,提高生活垃圾的含水率也有利于加速其厌氧产甲烷过程和提高甲烷的最终产量,含水率>95%的法国生活垃圾反应体系的最终甲烷产量是含水率为80%时产量的1.6倍.而对于纤维素类废物,提高含水率则能改善水分在水解和酸化过程中的可获得性,从而增大甲烷化的底物可获得量,含水率>95%的纤维素类废物反应体系的甲烷最终产量是含水率为65%时产量的3.8倍.     

Impact of nitrate-enhanced leachate recirculation on gaseous releases from a landfill bioreactor cell

This study evaluates the impact of nitrate injection on a full scale landfill bioreactor through the monitoring of gaseous releases and particularly N₂O emissions. During several weeks, we monitored gas concentrations in the landfill gas collection system as well as surface gas releases with a series of seven static chambers. These devices were directly connected to a gas chromatograph coupled to a flame ionisation detector and an electron capture detector (GC-FID/ECD) placed directly on the field. Measurements were performed before, during and after recirculation of raw leachate and nitrate-enhanced leachate. Raw leachate recirculation did not have a significant effect on the biogas concentrations (CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O) in the gas extraction network. However, nitrate-enhanced leachate recirculation induced a marked increase of the N₂O concentrations in the gas collected from the recirculation trench (100-fold increase from 0.2 ppm to 23 ppm). In the common gas collection system however, this N₂O increase was no more detectable because of dilution by gas coming from other cells or ambient air intrusion. Surface releases through the temporary cover were characterized by a large spatial and temporal variability. One automated chamber gave limited standard errors over each experimental period for N₂O releases: 8.1 ± 0.16 mg m^?2 d^?1 (n = 384), 4.2 ± 0.14 mg m^?2 d^?1 (n = 132) and 1.9 ± 0.10 mg m^?2 d^?1 (n = 49), during, after raw leachate and nitrate-enhanced leachate recirculation, respectively. No clear correlation between N₂O gaseous surface releases and recirculation events were evidenced. Estimated N₂O fluxes remained in the lower range of what is reported in the literature for landfill covers, even after nitrate injection.