Koroleva Elizaveta, Mqulwa Aza Zizipo, Norris-Jones Scott, Reed Sidney, Tambe Zahraa, Visagie Aiden, Jacobs Karin
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Feb 26. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-13152-w.
Cigarette butts contribute significantly to global pollution present on the planet. The filters found in cigarette butts contain a microplastic, cellulose acetate, as well as toxic metals and metalloids which are responsible for pollution in the environment. Although cigarette butt litter is prevalent in many soils, research on the effects of these cigarette butts is limited. In this study, we used Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA) to generate DNA fingerprints of bacterial communities in soil before and after the addition of cigarette butt leachate treatments. An ICP-MS analysis of the biodegradable and non-biodegradable cigarette butts revealed the presence of various elements: Al, As, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, V, and Zn. The analysis also specified which metals were present at the highest concentrations in the biodegradable and non-biodegradable cigarette butts, and these were, respectively, Al (1,31 g/kg and 2,35 g/kg), Fe (2,03 g/kg and 1,11 g/kg), and Zn (3,18 mg/kg and 15,70 mg/kg). Our results show that biodegradable cigarette butts had a significant effect on bacterial community composition (beta diversity), unlike the non-biodegradable butts. This effect can be attributed to higher concentrations of certain metals and metalloids in the leachate of biodegradable cigarette butts compared to the non-biodegradable ones. Our findings suggest that biodegradable and non-biodegradable cigarette butts can significantly affect bacterial communities in soil as a result of the leaching of significant quantities of certain elements into the surrounding soils.
烟头对地球上的全球污染有重大贡献。烟头中的过滤嘴含有一种微塑料——醋酸纤维素，以及有毒金属和类金属，这些物质是造成环境污染的原因。尽管烟头垃圾在许多土壤中普遍存在，但关于这些烟头影响的研究却很有限。在本研究中，我们使用自动核糖体基因间隔区分析（ARISA）来生成添加烟头渗滤液处理前后土壤中细菌群落的DNA指纹图谱。对可生物降解和不可生物降解烟头的电感耦合等离子体质谱分析揭示了各种元素的存在：铝、砷、硼、钡、镉、钴、铬、铜、铁、汞、锰、钼、镍、铅、锑、硒、锡、锶、钒和锌。该分析还明确了哪些金属在可生物降解和不可生物降解烟头中含量最高，分别为铝（1.31克/千克和2.35克/千克）、铁（2.03克/千克和1.11克/千克）以及锌（3.18毫克/千克和15.70毫克/千克）。我们的结果表明，与不可生物降解的烟头不同，可生物降解的烟头对细菌群落组成（β多样性）有显著影响。这种影响可归因于可生物降解烟头渗滤液中某些金属和类金属的浓度高于不可生物降解的烟头。我们的研究结果表明，由于大量特定元素渗入周围土壤，可生物降解和不可生物降解的烟头会对土壤中的细菌群落产生显著影响。
