Synthetic textiles can shed numerous microfibers during conventional washing, but evaluating environmental consequences as well as source-control strategies requires understanding mass releases. ...Polyester apparel accounts for a large proportion of the polyester market, and synthetic jackets represent the broadest range in apparel construction, allowing for potential changes in manufacturing as a mitigation measure to reduce microfiber release during laundering. Here, detergent-free washing experiments were conducted and replicated in both front- and top-load conventional home machines for five new and mechanically aged jackets or sweaters: four from one name-brand clothing manufacturer (three majority polyester fleece, and one nylon shell with nonwoven polyester insulation) and one off-brand (100% polyester fleece). Wash water was filtered to recover two size fractions (>333 μm and between 20 and 333 μm); filters were then imaged, and microfiber masses were calculated. Across all treatments, the recovered microfiber mass per garment ranged from approximately 0 to 2 g, or exceeding 0.3% of the unwashed garment mass. Microfiber masses from top-load machines were approximately 7 times those from front-load machines; garments mechanically aged via a 24 h continuous wash had increased mass release under the same wash protocol as new garments. When published wastewater treatment plant influent characterization and microfiber removal studies are considered, washing synthetic jackets or sweaters as per this study would account for most microfibers entering the environment.
Increased use of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) raises concerns about their environmental impacts, but the effects of metal oxide ENPs on environmental processes and the organisms that carry them ...out remain largely unknown. This study evaluated the impacts of TiO2 and ZnO ENPs on soil bacterial communities. Soils collected from a California grassland were exposed to different doses of nanoparticulate TiO2 (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg g(-1) soil) and ZnO (0.05, 0.1, and 0.5 mg g(-1) soil) in microcosms over 60 days. The effects on soil microbial biomass were assessed by substrate induced respiration (SIR) and total extractable soil DNA. The effects on bacterial community composition were evaluated by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis. Total soil respiration indicated impacts on overall microbial activity. We found that both nano-TiO2 and nano-ZnO reduced both microbial biomass (as indicated by declines in both SIR and DNA) and diversity (by T-RFLP). Both types of nanoparticles also altered the composition of the soil bacterial community. The effect of nano-ZnO was stronger than that of nano-TiO2, as reflected by lower DNA and stronger shifts in bacterial community composition for nano-ZnO at the same exposure concentration (0.5 mg g(-1) soil). Thus, nanoparticulate metal oxides may measurably and negatively impact soil bacterial communities.
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•PECs for 11 most sold antibiotics in the U.S. were simulated.•PNECs of antibiotics protective of AMR development were evaluated.•PECs and MECs exceeded PNECs for most ...antibiotics.•Similar analyses can guide antibiotic levels in manufacturing plant effluents.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment is a globally concerning issue. This study sought to improve the understanding of human health risks from an environmental AMR proliferation perspective. Surface water concentrations of 11 most used antibiotics in the United States were simulated for the Columbia and Sacramento River watersheds using the Pharmaceutical Assessment and Transport Evaluation (PhATE) model. The predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) and literature-reported measured environmental concentrations (MECs) of antibiotics were compared to the predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs) of three frameworks proposed as protective of AMR selection. For all of the studied antibiotics, PECs (except for moxifloxacin, a 4th generation fluoroquinolone), and at least one published MEC, were above the safe limit proposed by at least one of the three frameworks. The results indicate that a variety of different antibiotics with different mechanisms of action and physico-chemical properties are likely in environmental compartments at or above the concentrations currently proposed as safe from an AMR proliferation perspective. Understanding environmental occurrence of antibiotics is important for assessing environmental exposures and, when compared to PNECs for resistance selection, can—either alone or in combination with other methods— more specifically indicate where there are potential risks of AMR proliferation.
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•NPs within low concentration threshold significantly promote biofilm formation.•EPS is critical for biofilm tolerance of NPs.•Cells in mature biofilm are more resistant to NPs than ...cells at other stages.•Low level of NPs stimulated the release of biofilm-related signaling molecules.•High content NPs exposure induced genotoxicity and upregulated antioxidant genes.
Elucidating the effects of nanoparticles (NPs) on key bacterial functions not only deepens our understanding of nano-toxicity mechanisms, but also guides us in the design criteria for manufacturing safe nanomaterials. In this study, bacterial growth, biofilm development and the expression of biofilm-related genes were monitored in Pseudomonas putida KT2440, a plant-beneficial bacterium, following exposure to ZnO NPs. Low concentrations of NPs (0.5–30 mg L−1) significantly promoted bacterial growth and biofilm formation, while higher concentrations (>30 mg L−1) significantly inhibited biofilm formation. Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that microscope slides coated with 0.5 mg L−1 of ZnO NPs showed enhanced bacterial colonization and biomass production, but at higher concentrations (250 mg L−1), biomass production was about 11 times lower than that of the substrate without NPs. Increased protein and sugar contents of the biofilm matrix corroborated the stimulating effects of low concentrations of ZnO NPs. Physiological data were supported by changes in the expression of genes associated with oxidative stress and biofilm development. ZnO NPs at 0.5 mg L−1 stimulated the expression of quorum sensing, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, and antibiotic resistance genes; high concentrations of ZnO NPs (250 mg L−1) down-regulated biofilm formation-related genes and up-regulated antioxidant genes. Our results indicate that long-term release of low concentrations of ZnO NPs to the environment would promote undesired biofilm formation and increased resistance to antibiotics.
The last decade has seen development of numerous new microbial source tracking (MST) methodologies, but many of these have been tested in just a few laboratories with a limited number of fecal ...samples. This method evaluation study examined the specificity and sensitivity of 41 MST methodologies by analyzing data generated in 27 laboratories. MST methodologies that targeted human, cow, ruminant, dog, gull, pig, horse, and sheep were tested against sewage, septage, human, cow, dog, deer, pig, chicken, pigeon, gull, horse, and goose fecal samples. Each laboratory received 64 blind samples containing a single source (singletons) or two sources (doubletons), as well as diluted singleton samples to assess method sensitivity. Laboratories utilized their own protocols when performing the methods and data were deposited in a central database before samples were unblinded. Between one and seven laboratories tested each method. The most sensitive and specific assays, based on an analysis of presence/absence of each marker in target and non-target fecal samples, were HF183 endpoint and HF183SYBR (human), CF193 and Rum2Bac (ruminant), CowM2 and CowM3 (cow), BacCan (dog), Gull2SYBR and LeeSeaGull (gull), PF163 and pigmtDNA (pig), HoF597 (horse), PhyloChip (pig, horse, chicken, deer), Universal 16S TRFLP (deer), and Bacteroidales 16S TRFLP (pig, horse, chicken, deer); all had sensitivity and specificity higher than 80% in all or the majority of laboratories. When the abundance of MST markers in target and non-target fecal samples was examined, some assays that performed well in the binary analysis were found to not be sensitive enough as median concentrations fell below a minimum abundance criterion (set at 50 copies per colony forming units of enterococci) in target fecal samples. Similarly, some assays that cross-reacted with non-target fecal sources in the binary analysis were found to perform well in a quantitative analysis because the cross-reaction occurred at very low levels. Based on a quantitative analysis, the best performing methods were HF183Taqman and BacH (human), Rum2Bac and BacR (ruminant), LeeSeaGull (gull), and Pig2Bac (pig); no cow or dog-specific assay met the quantitative specificity and sensitivity criteria. Some of the best performing assays in the study were run by just one laboratory so further testing of assay portability is needed. While this study evaluated the marker performance in defined samples, further field testing as well as development of frameworks for fecal source allocation and risk assessment are needed.
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•41 MST methods were tested by 27 laboratories against 12 different fecal sources.•Assay performance was judged based on sensitivity and specificity metrics.•Best performing ruminant, cow, human, gull, dog, and pig assays were identified.•Field validation of the best performing methods is warranted.
Rewetting a dry soil has long been known to cause a burst of respiration (the “Birch Effect”). Hypothesized mechanisms for this involve: (1) release of cellular materials as a result of the rapid ...increase in water potential stress and (2) stimulating C-supply to microbes via physical processes. The balance of these factors is still not well understood, particularly in the contexts of multiple dry/wet cycles and of how resource and stress patterns vary through the soil profile. We evaluated the effects of multiple dry/wet cycles on surface and subsurface soils from a California annual grassland. Treatments included 4, 6, and 12 cycles that varied the length of the drying period between rewetting events. Respiration was monitored after each wetting event while extractable C and N, microbial biomass, and microbial activity were assayed initially, after the first rewetting event, and at the end of the experiment. Initially, microbial biomass and activity (respiration, dehydrogenase, and N mineralization) in subsurface soils were ca. 10% and 20% of surface soil levels. After multiple cycles, however, subsurface soil microbial biomass and activity were enhanced by up to 8-fold, even in comparison to the constantly moist treatment. By comparison, surface soil microbial biomass and activity were either moderately (i.e. 1.5 times increase) or not affected by wetting and drying. Drying and rewetting led to a cascade of responses (soluble C release, biomass growth, and enhanced activity) that mobilized and metabolized otherwise unavailable soil carbon, particularly in subsurface soils.
Bioswales are used to attenuate stormwater pollution, but their long-term sustainability regarding sequestered metals is relatively unknown, and a clear rationale for prioritizing soil management is ...lacking. Impervious areas draining into four 14-year-old suburban bioswales were delineated, for which surface soils (top 10 cm; 72 samples) were sampled; soils from 4 adjacent reference sites were also sampled. Total and water soluble metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) were quantified, and the relationships between metal concentrations and drainage area characteristics evaluated. Annual metal loads were estimated using regional runoff data to simulate current and future metal concentrations; risks to soil biota were assessed by comparing metal concentrations to ecological screening levels. The drainage areas' percent imperviousness (37–71%) and ratios of impervious drainage area to bioswale area (2.0–5.7) varied, owing to differing proportions of rooftops, paved surfaces, lawns, and natural soils. Total Cu and Zn ranged from 10.0 to 43.2 mg/kg dry soil, and 15.6 to 129.5 mg/kg dry soil, respectively. Across all bioswales, total Zn was positively correlated to percent impervious area (r = 0.32, p = 0.0073), the ratio of connected impervious drainage area to infiltration area (r = 0.32, p = 0.0073), and percent drainage area as paved surfaces (r = 0.46, p = 5.6 E-05), but negatively correlated to percent drainage area as lawns (r = −0.48; p = 2.4 E-05). Water soluble metal concentrations were orders of magnitude lower than total metals. Given annual metal loads (0.2–0.4 mg Cu/kg dry soil; 1.5–3.1 mg Zn/kg dry soil), replacing bioswale soils to constrain metal concentrations would be unnecessary for decades. Taken together, this study proposes a transferable approach of estimating, then verifying via sampling and analysis, bioswale soil metal concentrations, such that soil management decisions can be benchmarked to ecological screening levels.
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•Low but quantifiable soil metals in >10-year-old suburban bioswales.•Soil Zn concentrations correlate with impervious drainage to bioswale area ratio.•Soil metal concentrations relate to modeled annual metal loads using regional data.•Soil Zn and Cu total concentrations are mostly below ecological screening levels.•Transferable field and modeling approach for informing soil bioswale management.
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