Systematic and long-term technical validity of toxicity determination and early warning of heavy metal pollution based on an automatic water-toxicity-determination-system

doi:10.1007/s11783-024-1856-8

2024, Vol. 18

Issue (8) : 96 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1856-8

Systematic and long-term technical validity of toxicity determination and early warning of heavy metal pollution based on an automatic water-toxicity-determination-system

Yue Yi¹, Baoguo Wang¹, Xuemei Yi¹, Fan Zha³, Haisen Lin⁴, Zhijun Zhou⁵, Yanhong Ge³(

), Hong Liu²(

)

¹. School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
². Institute of Environmental Biology and Life Support Technology, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
³. Infore Environment Technology Group, Foshan 528000, China
⁴. Jiangmen Ecological Environment Monitoring Station, Jiangmen 529000, China
⁵. Guangzhou Sub-branch of Guangdong Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, Guangzhou 510000, China

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Abstract

● Establish an automatic water toxicity determination system with a high technical maturity.

● Provide a systematic and basic database of heavy metal toxicity determination with EAB.

● More than two-month surface water quality monitoring with EAB was realized.

● Testify the feasibility of the on-site early warning of heavy metal pollution with EAB.

Water toxicity determination with electrochemically active bacteria (EAB) shows promise for providing early warnings for heavy metal pollution in water. However, thus far, only idealized tests with a few types of heavy metals have been conducted. In this study, an automatic water-toxicity-determination system with high technical maturity was established, and the toxicological properties of common heavy metals were systematically assessed. The results demonstrated that the common heavy metals linearly inhibited EAB currents in the range of 0.1 mg/L to 0.5 mg/L. The toxicity ranking of the tested heavy metals was Pb²⁺ > Tl³⁺ > Cu²⁺ > Cd²⁺ > Zn²⁺ > Ni²⁺ > Hg²⁺ > As³⁺. The toxicity interaction mainly exhibited an antagonistic effect in binary heavy metal mixtures. The system can accurately determine surface water toxicity and rapidly monitor heavy metal pollution, with good repeatability and a long lifetime. Overall, this study demonstrates that EAB are capable of long-term (> 60 d) surface water quality monitoring and on-site early warning of heavy metal pollution.

Keywords Biological early warning system Electrochemically active bacteria Water toxicity determination Biosensor Heavy metal pollution Early warning

Corresponding Author(s): Yanhong Ge,Hong Liu

About author:

#usheng Xing, Yannan Jian and Xiaodan Zhao contributed equally to this work.]]>

Issue Date: 29 May 2024

Cite this article:

Yue Yi,Baoguo Wang,Xuemei Yi, et al. Systematic and long-term technical validity of toxicity determination and early warning of heavy metal pollution based on an automatic water-toxicity-determination-system[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(8): 96.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-024-1856-8
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2024/V18/I8/96

Fig.1 Hardware design (a) and user surface (b) of the automatic water-toxicity-determination system with a technical maturity level of 7.

Tab.1 Schedule of heavy metal toxicity determination in this study

Fig.2 Water toxicity determination system for three generations. (a–c: the water toxicity determination system of three generation; d–f: the sensor in the water toxicity determination system of three generation; g–i: the calculation methods of current inhibition ratio for water toxicity determination of three generation).

Fig.3 Changes in S-MES currents in heavy metal toxicity determination. (a–b: S-MES currents and the descent ratios in six repeated toxic shocks of 0.5 mg/L Pb²⁺; c–d: S-MES currents and the descent ratios in four repeated toxic shocks of 0.5 mg/L As³⁺).

Tab.2 IC50 values and detection limit of eight heavy metals in this study

Fig.4 Relationships between heavy metal concentrations and CIR values. (a: Pb²⁺; b: Cd²⁺; c: Hg²⁺; d: As³⁺; e: Tl³⁺; f: Cu²⁺; g: Zn²⁺; h: Ni²⁺).

Fig.5 Toxicity determination of heavy metal mixtures. (a–b: comprehensive toxicity of binary heavy metal mixtures and toxicity interaction in mixtures; c–d: comprehensive toxicity of ternary and biquaternion heavy metal mixtures, and toxicity interaction in the mixtures; e: comprehensive toxicity of quaternary, quinary, and biquaternion heavy metal mixtures).

Fig.6 Toxicity determination and online monitoring of surface water with EAB. (a: toxicity determination of surface water with luminous bacteria; b: online monitoring of surface water quality with EAB; c: spike tests with S-MES after more than 60 d online monitoring and an S-MES after startup; d–f: pictures of simulated turbid water, turbid surface water, and pretreated surface water; g: spike tests of simulated turbid water; h: spike tests of turbid surface water and pretreated surface water).

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