The fate and toxicity of Pb-based perovskite nanoparticles on soil bacterial community: Impacts of pH, humic acid, and divalent cations

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) 2020-06, Vol.249, p.126564-126564, Article 126564
• Main Authors: Zhai, Yujia, Wang, Zhuang, Wang, Guiyin, Peijnenburg, Willie J.G.M., Vijver, Martina G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacteria - drug effects; Bacterial metabolic potential; Calcium Compounds - chemistry; Cations, Divalent; Environmental conditions; Fate assessment; Humic Substances - analysis; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Ions; Lead; Lead-based nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - toxicity; Nanotoxicology; Oxides - chemistry; Soil; Soil Microbiology; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soil Pollutants - toxicity; Titanium - chemistry; Toxicity Tests
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126564

Pb-based perovskite nanoparticles (PbPNPs) are amongst others used within highly efficient solar cells. PbPNPs can be released into the environment during their production, recycling or waste processing. In this study we investigated the fate and toxicity of PbPNPs on soil bacterial community under simulated natural environmental conditions across a range of pH, humic acid, and divalent cation concentrations. Increasing pH decreased PbPNPs-particle aggregation as well as Pb-ion release. The presence of only humic acid (HA) prevented the aggregation of PbPNPs-particles, whereas the presence of only divalent cations promoted the aggregation of PbPNPs-particles. The amount of Pb-ions released from the PbPNPs-particles was reduced in the presence of either HA or the divalent cations. Results of toxicity testing of PbPNPs by determining the metabolic potential of a bacterial community indicated that increasing pH alleviated particle toxicity. The presence of only HA reduced the toxicity of PbPNPs, while the presence of only divalent cations enhanced the particle toxicity. The coexistence of HA and divalent cations enhanced PbPNPs aggregation and reduced toxicity, with both Pb-ions and the interaction between the PbPNPs-particles and bacterial cells contributing to the toxic effects. Our study emphasized that environmental conditions play important roles that influencing the fate and toxicity of PbPNPs. •The fate and toxicity of PbPNPs are influenced by pH, HA and divalent cation content.•Increasing pH promoted PbPNPs dispersion but decreased Pb-ion release and toxicity.•The surface coating by HA increased PbPNPs stability but decreased bioavailability.•The divalent cations enhanced the PbPNPs aggregation and increased toxicity.•The divalent cations concentration drives the fate and toxicity when coexist with HA.