The effects of fluoride based fire-fighting foams on soil microbiota activity and plant growth during natural attenuation of perfluorinated compounds.
The use of fluoride based foams increases the effectiveness of fire-fighting operations, but they are also accompanied by major drawbacks regarding environmental safety of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). The main concern with PFCs release is due to their well-known persistence and bioaccumulative potential, as they have been detected in many environmental samples. There is a significant knowledge gap on PFC toxicity to plants, even though such data could be useful towards bioremediation procedures. It is consensus that a realistic assessment of fire-fighting foam toxicity should cover as many test organisms as possible, however, few studies combine the performance of ecotoxicological tests with a detailed study of microbial communities in soil contaminated with firefighting foams. Our research evaluated the effects of natural attenuation of PFCs on the development of arugula and lettuce seeds. The effects of variable PFCs amounts were also observed in soil microbiota using the 2,6 dichlorophenol-indophenol redox dye as microbial metabolism indicator. We aimed to determine whether aqueous film forming foams toxicity increased or decreased over time in a simulated contamination scenario. We argued that the long-term biotransformation of fire-fighting foams should be taken in to account when evaluating toxicity, focusing on a time-based monitoring analysis, since potentially toxic intermediates may be formed though biodegradation. The phyto-toxicity of PFCs to lettuce and arugula was high, increasing as a function of the concentration and decreasing as a function of exposure time to the environment. However, very specific concentrations throughout biodegradation result in the formation of non-inhibiting intermediates. Therefore, variable biodegradation-dependent germination rates may be misleading on non-time-based monitoring approaches. Also, the low phyto-toxicity after 240days does not exclude the potential for PFC bioaccumulation in plants. We also proposed that the colorimetric data modelling could also establish a novel toxicity parameter to evaluate the release impacts to soil and biota. The combined assays allowed the monitoring of PFCs during long-term exposition to plants as well as their immediate effects on the same soil microbiota.
Departamento de Bioquímica e Microbiologia, Instituto de Biociências, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Avenida 24 A, 1515-Bela Vista, 13506-900, Rio Claro-SP, Brazil.
Renato Nallin
RN
Montagnolli
Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Rodovia Comandante João Ribeiro de Barros (SP 294), Km 651, 17900-000, Dracena-SP, Brazil.
Paulo Renato
PR
Matos Lopes
Departamento de Bioquímica e Microbiologia, Instituto de Biociências, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Avenida 24 A, 1515-Bela Vista, 13506-900, Rio Claro-SP, Brazil.
Jaqueline
J
Matos Cruz
Departamento de Bioquímica e Microbiologia, Instituto de Biociências, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Avenida 24 A, 1515-Bela Vista, 13506-900, Rio Claro-SP, Brazil.
Elis
E
Marina Turini Claro
Departamento de Bioquímica e Microbiologia, Instituto de Biociências, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Avenida 24 A, 1515-Bela Vista, 13506-900, Rio Claro-SP, Brazil.
Gabriela Mercuri
GM
Quiterio
Departamento de Bioquímica e Microbiologia, Instituto de Biociências, UNESP - São Paulo State University, Avenida 24 A, 1515-Bela Vista, 13506-900, Rio Claro-SP, Brazil. Electronic address: ederio@rc.unesp.br.
Ederio Dino
ED
Bidoia
D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001937:Brassica / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D002151:Calorimetry; D054750:Ecotoxicology; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000633:toxicity*; D018525:Germination / Q000187:drug effects; D018545:Lactuca / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D063245:Plant Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D010944:Plants; D012639:Seeds / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D012988:Soil Microbiology
D005411:Flame Retardants; D005466:Fluorocarbons
AFFF; Germination; Perluorinated compounds; Response surface analysis; Soil toxicity