Effect of soil sorption and aquatic natural organic matter on the antibacterial activity of a fullerene water suspension.

The present study investigated the association of a C60 water suspension (nC6) with natural organic matter, present as a soil constituent or dissolved in the water column, and its effect on the antibacterial activity of nC60. Sorption of nC60 to soil reduced its bioavailability and antibacterial activity, and the sorption capacity strongly depended on the organic content of the soil. Adsorption of aquatic dissolved humic substances onto nC60 and possible subsequent reactions also were found to eliminate nC60 toxicity at humic acid concentrations as low as 0.05 mg/L. These findings indicate that natural organic matter in the environment can mitigate significantly the potential impacts of nC60 on microbial activities that are important to ecosystem health.