Improvement of Extraction Efficiency and Metabolites of Pollutants from Medium and Low Concentration Organic Polluted Soil

Abstract

Article Improvement of Extraction Efficiency and Metabolites of Pollutants from Medium and Low Concentration Organic Polluted Soil Xiaojuan Bai 1,2,*, Wei Song 2, Linlong Guo 2, Rujiao Liu 2, Yihan Cao 2, Pin Jin 2, Bowen Zhu 1,2 and Xiaoran Zhang 1,2 1 Centre for Urban Environmental Remediation, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China 2 Beijing Energy Conservation & Sustainable Urban and Rural Development Provincial and Ministry Co-Construction Collaboration Innovation Center, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China * Correspondence: baixiaojuan@bucea.edu.cn or heixia.1986@163.com Received: 6 February 2024; Revised: 11 March 2024; Accepted: 8 April 2024; Published: 15 April 2024   Abstract: Industrial development has accelerated soil contamination by organic pollutants, posing a major threat to global ecosystems and human health. Natural attenuation techniques, renowned for their environmental compatibility and cost-effectiveness, have garnered widespread attention for the remediation of environmental pollution. In this work, we have successfully enhanced the natural attenuation process of organic contaminants in soil by employing biostimulation and bioaugmentation methods to remove pollutants. The results showed that the degradation rate of low molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) reached about 82.5% while medium molecular weight PAHs was about 43.72%, as well as high molecular weight PAHs was about 34.5% even after a remediation process of only 14 days. In addition, the biofortified soil was exhaustively analyzed by high-throughput sequencing, which showed that the dosing of bactericide and surfactants significantly increased the abundance of 16sRNA genes and alkane degradation-related genes. In response to the challenges of detecting and analyzing complex organic pollutants in soil, we have developed an integrated method for the extraction, purification, and detection of organic pollutants in soil, ranging from low to medium concentrations. This approach not only allows for the efficient extraction of organic pollutants from the soil but also facilitates further inference of the degradation mechanisms of these pollutants. Integrating chemical analysis and microbiological techniques, and employing Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS), we precisely measured and identified organic contaminants in soil and deduced the mechanisms of degradation. These findings are significant for the development of new environmental remediation technologies and strategies, contributing to addressing soil pollution issues exacerbated by industrial activities.