Heavy metals in a typical industrial area-groundwater system: Spatial distribution, microbial response and ecological risk

Dong Li; Yang Ding; Yi Zhang; Xinying Zhang; Liuyuan Feng; Yuling Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142339

Heavy metals in a typical industrial area-groundwater system: Spatial distribution, microbial response and ecological risk

Chemosphere. 2024 May 14:360:142339. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142339. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Dong Li¹, Yang Ding¹, Yi Zhang¹, Xinying Zhang¹, Liuyuan Feng¹, Yuling Zhang²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China; College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China; Institute of Water Resources and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China.
² Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China; College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China; Institute of Water Resources and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China. Electronic address: lingling29@126.com.

PMID: 38754488
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142339

Abstract

The environmental burden due to industrial activities has been quite observable in the last few years, with heavy metals (HMs) like lead, cadmium, and arsenic inducing serious perturbations to the microbial ecosystem of groundwater. Studies carried out in North China, a region known for interconnection of industrial and groundwater systems, sought to explore the natural mechanisms of adaptation of microbes to groundwater contamination. The results showed that heavy metals permeate from surface increased the diversity and abundance of microbial communities in groundwater, producing an average decrease of 40.84% and 34.62% in the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria in groundwater, respectively. Meanwhile, the key environmental factors driving the evolution of microbial communities shift from groundwater nutrients to heavy metals, which explained 50.80% of the change in the microbial community composition. Microbial indicators are more sensitive to HMs pollution and could accurately identify industrial area where HMs permeation occurred and other extraneous pollutants. The phylum Bacteroidetes could act as appropriate indicators for the identification. Significant genera that were identified, being Mesorhizobium, Clostridium, Bacillus and Mucilaginibacter, were found to play important roles in the microbial network in terms of the potential to assist in groundwater clean-up. Notably, pollution from heavy metals has diminished the effectiveness and resilience of microbial communities in groundwater, thereby heightening the susceptibility of these normally stable microbial ecosystems. These findings offer new perspectives on how to monitor and detect groundwater pollution, and provide scientific guidance for developing suitable remediation methods for groundwater contaminated with heavy metals. Future research is essential explore the application of metal-tolerant or resistant bacteria in bioremediation strategies to rehabilitate groundwater systems contaminated by HMs.

Keywords: Adaptive characteristics; Ecological risk assessment; Groundwater system; Heavy metal; Microbial community structure.