Earthworm assisted bioremediation of organic contaminants

Due to their biological, chemical and physical actions, earthworms can be directly employed within bioremediation strategies to promote biodegradation of organic contaminants. Earthworms have been shown to aerate and bioturbate soils and improve their nutritional status and fertility, which are variables known to limit bioremediation. Earthworms have also been shown to retard the binding of organic contaminants to soils, release previously soil-bound contaminants for subsequent degradation, and promote and disperse organic contaminant degrading microorganisms. This review discusses these earthworm actions upon the soil environment and how they might influence the fate and behaviour of soil associated organic contaminants, subsequently improving bioremediation potential. The latter part of this review considers organic compounds in the following order: agrochemicals, petroleum and crude oil hydrocarbons, PAHs and PCBs.     

Bioaccessibility of metals in soils: comparison between chemical extractions and in vitro tests

It is well-known that the total metal content in soils is not a good indicator of their harmful effects, leading to an overestimation of risks. Toxicological and environmental hazards depend on the chemical species and on its bioavailability to target organisms. Because a good estimation of bioavailability is difficult, a good compromise is to assess bioaccessibility, defined as the maximum amount of a pollutant which is potentially absorbable by a target organism. This study presents a comparison of different strategies to measure metal bioaccessibility in soils. Three procedures were applied to real soil samples with different levels of metal contamination: pseudo-total metal attack, selective sequential extractions and in vitro tests (deliberately developed to simulate human or mammals digestion). Considering the first step of the selective extraction procedure, which can provide the bioaccessible fraction for deposit-feeder organisms, data obtained for each metal were lower than those obtained from in vitro tests. Therefore, it is possible to highlight that this extraction tends to underestimate metal bioaccessibility in soils for humans, while in vitro tests certainly will overestimate bioaccessibility for organisms as invertebrates. If the sum of first and second step of sequential procedure is considered, results are quite similar to those obtained from in vitro tests, but this kind of procedure would require two days of work rather than a few hours required to perform an in vitro test. Results highlight the diversity among the differently defined bioaccessible fractions and the need to apply the most suitable procedure depending on the target organism.     

食品中砷和硒生物可给性研究及健康风险/有益性评价

硒(Se)是人体必需的微量元素,一般通过大米和海鲜摄入。然而大米和海鲜是人体砷(As)暴露的主要途径之一。采用ICP-MS对广州市售的大米和3种鱼中砷和硒浓度进行了检测,并通过体外(in vitro)模拟胃肠消化(PBET)法对鱼肉中砷和硒的生物可给性进行了考察。结果表明,大米和鱼肉中砷的浓度分别为0.085～0.168μg·g~(-1)和2.224～5.533μg·g~(-1),硒的浓度分别为0.098～0.190μg·g~(-1)和1.641～2.315μg·g~(-1)。大米和鱼肉中86.86%～99.34%和51.95%～75.64%的砷生物可给,76.73%～85.44%和71.48%～79.83%的硒生物可给。通过大米和鱼肉摄入的硒基本可以满足人体需求。通过大米和3种鱼摄入的无机砷占国际粮农组织和世界卫生组织(FAO/WHO)公布的无机砷的每日最高允许摄入量(TWI)2.1μg·kg~(-1)BW的0.5%～35.7%,但是摄入无机砷的致癌风险分别为1.69×10~(-5)～5.81×10~(-4)和2.13×10~(-4)～7.34×10~(-4),是可接受或可容忍的风险的0.17～7.3倍,尤其是小孩,更易摄入砷产生毒害。     

上海地区肉类和鱼类食品中多氯联苯含量特征及其对人体的生物有效性

分析测定了上海地区居民经常食用的4种肉类、3种鱼类中多氯联苯(PCBs)的含量与分布特征.同时,应用体外实验(invitrotest)模拟人体胃肠液,测定了PCBs对人体的生物有效性.结果表明,上海地区肉类和鱼类中PCBs含量在51.6～1206.4pg.g-1(以鲜重计)之间,与世界其他国家和地区相比属于较低水平,三～七氯代联苯占主要地位.不同食品中PCBs对人体的生物有效性不同,鱼类中PCBs的生物有效性要显著高于肉类,脂肪含量是重要决定因素之一.最后,结合上海市居民对这几种食品的人均摄入量,对该地区居民PCBs的日平均暴露量进行了评估.结果显示,通过肉类食品的日平均暴露量总和为738.7pg.d-1,而鱼类达到了6173.6pg.d-1,食用同等量的肉类和鱼类,食用鱼类PCBs对人体的暴露量是肉类的20倍.     

Speciation and bioaccessibility of lead and cadmium in soil treated with metal-enriched Indian mustard leaves

Indian mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.) has shown good potential for the phytoremediation of soil contaminated with heavy metals. However, there is little information about the speciation and bioaccessibility of heavy metals in soil during the decomposition of metal-rich Indian mustard leaves. Incubation experiments (1-, 3-, and 6-month) were carried out in Beijing and Hunan soil with metal-rich Indian mustard leaves addition (1% and 3%) and the e ects of mustard leaves addition on the speciation and bioaccessibility of heavy metals were studied. The results showed that the addition of mustard leaves led to significant increases in pH and DOC in the Hunan soil. Both 1% and 3% of mustard leaf amendment caused the percentage of the exchangeable (F1), precipitated with carbonates (F2), bound to Fe/Mn oxides (F3) and bound to organic matter (F4) fractions of Pb and Cd to increase dramatically, while the percentage of the residual fraction (F5) of Cd and Pb significantly dropped in both Beijing and Hunan soils. Mustard leaf addition caused the bioaccessibility of Pb to decrease in the gastric phase, whereas the values increased in the small intestinal phase. The Cd bioaccessibility increased with mustard leaf addition in both the gastric and small intestinal phases. In conclusion, the metal-enriched mustard leaves addition induces Pb and Cd concentrations and their mobility increasing in the Beijing and Hunan soils. Therefore, heavy metal risk in metal-enriched plant leaves should be considered in phytoremediation system in which heavy metal might be brought back to soil and changed over time.     

食物中重金属的生物可给性和生物有效性的研究方法和应用进展

食品安全问题是直接关系到人民健康的重大民生问题。随着民众生活质量的不断提升,人们对食物质量的关注度越来越高。目前,重金属污染问题是食品安全的一个重要议题。而且,食物中重金属的生物可给性和生物有效性的测定结果已逐渐代替重金属的全量结果进行评价。因此,本文系统介绍了生物可给性和生物有效性的定义及相关关系,综述了生物可给性和生物有效性的多种研究方法的适用性及优缺点,着重总结了饮食习惯和肠道微生物对重金属生物可给性和生物有效性的影响,指出研究者应根据自己的研究目的选择不同的体外消化方法,饮食习惯和肠道微生物均极大地影响着食物中重金属的生物可给性和生物有效性,并在此基础上对食物中重金属的生物可给性和生物有效性研究今后的发展方向进行了展望。     

基于土壤汞形态归趋的健康风险评估方法

土壤汞污染是一个全球性关注问题,矿产资源开采、化工生产和燃煤发电等均造成了不同程度的土壤汞污染,合理评估汞污染场地的健康风险是场地开发再利用的关键.对土壤中汞的形态归趋研究总结表明,由于汞的特殊物理化学性质,并受土壤等环境因素的影响,导致其在土壤中具有复杂的化学形态和变化过程.汞在土壤中的不同化学形态归趋对其毒性效应、生物有效性和暴露途径产生显著影响.基于土壤汞总量的风险评估方法忽略了土壤中不同化学形态汞对毒性、生物有效性和暴露途径的影响,导致高估土壤汞污染的健康风险.针对基于土壤汞总量的风险评估存在的问题,提出了基于土壤汞形态归趋的土壤汞污染健康风险评估理论,并构建基于土壤汞形态归趋-有效剂量-健康效应的土壤汞污染的精细化风险评估技术体系框架:①土壤不同形态汞的测定与表征方法;②汞形态归趋预测模型;③暴露分析与暴露量计算;④有效剂量（生物可给性或生物有效性）测定;⑤风险表征;⑥基于不同形态汞的场地土壤污染风险筛选值和修复目标制定.该方法体系从理论上解决了传统基于土壤汞总量的风险评估方法存在的问题,实际应用中面临的主要问题和今后重点发展方向:①研发可商业化的土壤汞化学物组分分析仪及土壤汞蒸气的原位测定方法;②结合中国场地土壤特点,开展土壤中汞的形态归趋模拟的模型研究,弥补现阶段土壤汞化合物形态分析方法的欠缺;③研发和建立土壤汞的生物可给性和有效性的标准测试方法技术;④本土化的土壤汞筛选值的确定.      

典型锌冶金区蔬菜重金属的生物可给性及健康风险评价

为了探究冶金区蔬菜重金属污染状况及对人体的危害,以葫芦岛锌冶炼厂周围为研究区域,对8种典型蔬菜中重金属含量进行分析,采用体外胃肠模拟实验,测算出蔬菜中重金属的生物可给性,并以此修正健康风险评价计算方法.结果表明,蔬菜中各重金属的生物可给性在模拟胃阶段表现为:Cd(67.67%)Pb(50.70%)Cu(44.69%)Hg(3.09%);在模拟肠阶段表现为:Pb(48.90%)Cd(40.66%)Cu(32.88%)Hg(13.12%).由生物可给性校正后,人群通过饮食蔬菜途径摄入重金属的目标危险系数(THQ)顺序依次为:CdPbCuHg.基于胃肠阶段生物可给性计算的重金属单元素的目标危险系数(THQ)及多种重金属复合的目标危险系数(TTHQ)均小于1,但基于胃阶段生物可给性的Cd目标危险系数(THQ)仍然超过1,表明锌厂周围人群通过饮食蔬菜途径摄入重金属存在健康风险.成人的4种单元素THQ值和TTHQ值均高于儿童,说明成人通过饮食蔬菜途径摄入重金属的健康风险高于儿童.     

胃肠模拟体外法的生理参数对室内灰尘中邻苯二甲酸酯与磷系阻燃剂的生物有效性的影响

室内灰尘吞食暴露是邻苯二甲酸酯与磷系阻燃剂的主要暴露途径,测定室内灰尘中该类有机污染物的生物有效性对其暴露风险评价至关重要.本研究选择胃肠模拟体外方法-生理原理提取法(PBET)法测定室内灰尘中邻苯二甲酸二正丁酯(Dibutyl phthalate,DBP)、邻苯二甲酸丁基苄基酯(Butyl benzyl phthalate,BBP)、邻苯二甲酸二(2-乙基己基)酯(Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate,DEHP)和三(2-氯乙基)磷酸酯(Tris(2-chloroethyl)phosphate,TCEP)的生物有效性.研究了PBET法中胆盐含量、模拟肠液p H值、液固比及同时摄入奶粉等生理参数对生物有效性的影响.结果表明,4种有机污染物的生物有效性从1.5%(DEHP)到52%(TCEP),随污染物辛醇水分配系数的增加而降低.随着模拟液胆盐含量增加,DBP、BBP与DEHP的生物有效性逐渐增加,并在10 g·L~(-1)附近达到最大值后趋于平稳.TCEP由于其较好的水溶性,生物有效性并未随着胆盐含量的增加而明显变化.奶粉含量的增加则显著增加了DBP、BBP、DEHP和TCEP的生物有效性,在10 g·L~(-1)附近达到最大值后普遍呈现下降趋势.随着液固比的增加,DBP和DEHP的生物有效性显著提升,然而BBP与TCEP的生物有效性却未发生明显改变.在p H 6~8范围内,均未对4种有机物的生物有效性产生显著影响.     

应用SHIME模型研究肠道微生物对土壤中镉、铬、镍生物可给性的影响

为了研究人体肠道微生物对土壤中Cd、Cr、Ni生物可给性的影响.本文采集我国一些地区的5种土壤,利用in vitro方法(PBET和SHIME联用)研究了这些土壤中Cd、Cr、Ni在胃、小肠、结肠阶段的生物可给性及其对人体的健康风险.结果表明,土壤中Cd、Cr、Ni在胃阶段的生物可给性分别为4.3%~94.0%、6.4%~21.6%、11.3%~47.3%;小肠阶段,土壤中Cr和Ni的生物可给性与胃阶段一致或有一定升高,但Cd的生物可给性降低了1.4~1.6倍(土壤2除外);胃肠阶段,Cd的平均生物可给性较高,而Cr的较低.结肠阶段,土壤中Cr和Ni的生物可给性均升高,是小肠阶段的1.3~2.4倍和1.0~2.1倍,分别达到了17.6%~38.7%和25.4%~56.0%;而Cd的生物可给性也升高(土壤3和4除外);Ni的平均生物可给性最高.由此可见,肠道微生物可以促进土壤中Cd、Cr、Ni的溶出释放,提高了三者的生物可给性,可能增大了人体的健康风险.