Chitin and crawfish shell biochar composite decreased heavy metal bioavailability and shifted rhizosphere bacterial community in an arsenic/lead co-contaminated soil

Hanbo Chen; Yurong Gao; Huiyun Dong; Binoy Sarkar; Hocheol Song; Jianhong Li; Nanthi Bolan; Bert F Quin; Xing Yang; Fangbai Li; Fengchang Wu; Jun Meng; Hailong Wang; Wenfu Chen

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2023.107989

Chitin and crawfish shell biochar composite decreased heavy metal bioavailability and shifted rhizosphere bacterial community in an arsenic/lead co-contaminated soil

Environ Int. 2023 Jun:176:107989. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107989. Epub 2023 May 24.

Authors

Hanbo Chen¹, Yurong Gao², Huiyun Dong³, Binoy Sarkar⁴, Hocheol Song⁵, Jianhong Li⁶, Nanthi Bolan⁷, Bert F Quin⁸, Xing Yang⁹, Fangbai Li¹⁰, Fengchang Wu¹¹, Jun Meng¹², Hailong Wang¹³, Wenfu Chen¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan 528000, China; Agronomy College, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China; Institute of Eco-environmental Research, School of Environmental and Natural Resources, Zhejiang University of Science & Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China.
² School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan 528000, China; Agronomy College, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China.
³ Institute of Soil and Water Resources and Environmental Science, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
⁴ Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
⁵ Department of Earth Resources and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea.
⁶ Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China.
⁷ School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6001, Australia; The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6001, Australia.
⁸ Quin Environmentals (NZ) Ltd., PO Box 125122, St. Heliers, Auckland 1740, New Zealand.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
¹⁰ Institute of Eco-environmental and Soil Sciences, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
¹¹ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
¹² Agronomy College, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China.
¹³ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan 528000, China; Key Laboratory of Soil Contamination Bioremediation of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, China. Electronic address: hailong.wang@fosu.edu.cn.
¹⁴ Agronomy College, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China. Electronic address: wfchen5512@163.com.

PMID: 37245444
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107989

Abstract

Sustainable management of ever-increasing organic biowaste and arable soil contamination by potentially toxic elements are of concern from both environmental and agricultural perspectives. To tackle the waste issue of crawfish shells and simultaneously minimize the threat of arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) to human health, a pot trial was conducted using chitin (CT), crawfish shell biochar (CSB), crawfish shell powder (CSP), and CT-CSB composite to compare their remediation efficiencies in As/Pb co-contaminated soil. Results demonstrated that addition of all amendments decreased Pb bioavailability, with the greatest effect observed for the CT-CSB treatment. Application of CSP and CSB increased the soil available As concentration, while significant decreases were observed in the CT and CT-CSB treatments. Meanwhile, CT addition was the most effective in enhancing the soil enzyme activities including acid phosphatase, α-glucosidase, N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, and cellobiohydrolase, whereas CSB-containing treatments suppressed the activities of most enzymes. The amendments altered the bacterial abundance and composition in soil. For instance, compared to the control, all treatments increased Chitinophagaceae abundance by 2.6-4.7%. The relative abundance of Comamonadaceae decreased by 1.6% in the CSB treatment, while 2.1% increase of Comamonadaceae was noted in the CT-CSB treatment. Redundancy and correlation analyses (at the family level) indicated that the changes in bacterial community structure were linked to bulk density, water content, and As/Pb availability of soils. Partial least squares path modeling further indicated that soil chemical property (i.e., pH, dissolved organic carbon, and cation exchange capacity) was the strongest predictor of As/Pb availability in soils following amendment application. Overall, CT-CSB could be a potentially effective amendment for simultaneously immobilizing As and Pb and restoring soil ecological functions in contaminated arable soils.

Keywords: Engineered biochar; Enzyme activity; Microbial community; Soil remediation; Structural equation model.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Arsenic* / analysis
Bacteria
Biological Availability
Cadmium / analysis
Charcoal / chemistry
Chitin
Humans
Lead / analysis
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Rhizosphere
Soil / chemistry
Soil Pollutants* / analysis

Substances

Arsenic
biochar
Lead
Chitin
Metals, Heavy
Charcoal
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Cadmium