LEPABE - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal; ALiCE - Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal.
LEPABE - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal; ALiCE - Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal.
J Environ Manage. 2023 Apr 15;332:117413. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117413. Epub 2023 Feb 8.
Parabens have been detected in drinking water (DW) worldwide, however, their impact on DW microbial communities remains to be explored. Microorganisms can easily adapt to environmental changes. Therefore, their exposure to contaminants of emerging concern, particularly parabens, in DW distribution systems (DWDS) may affect the microbiological quality and safety of the DW reaching the consumers tap. This work provides a pioneer evaluation of the effects of methylparaben (MP), propylparaben (PP), butylparaben (BP), and their combination (MIX), in bacterial biofilms formed on different surfaces, representative of DWDS materials - high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PPL) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, isolated from DW, were used to form single and dual-species biofilms on the surface materials selected. The exposure to MP for 7 days caused the most significant effects on biofilms, by increasing their cellular culturability, density, and thickness up to 233%, 150%, and 224%, respectively, in comparison to non-exposed biofilms. Overall, more pronounced alterations were detected for single biofilms than for dual-species biofilms when HDPE and PPL, demonstrating that the surface material used affected the action of parabens on biofilms. Swimming motility and the production of virulence factors (protease and gelatinase) by S. maltophilia were increased up to 141%, 41%, and 73%, respectively, when exposed to MP for 7 days. The overall results highlight the potential of parabens to interfere with DW bacteria in planktonic state and biofilms, and compromise the DW microbiological quality and safety.
对苯二甲酸二甲酯已在世界范围内的饮用水（DW）中被检测到，然而，其对 DW 微生物群落的影响仍有待探索。微生物可以很容易地适应环境变化。因此，它们暴露于新兴关注污染物，特别是对苯二甲酸二甲酯，在 DW 分配系统（DWDS）中，可能会影响到达消费者水龙头的 DW 的微生物质量和安全。这项工作首次评估了对苯二甲酸二甲酯（MP）、对苯二甲酸丙酯（PP）、对苯二甲酸丁酯（BP）及其混合物（MIX）对不同表面形成的细菌生物膜的影响，这些表面代表了 DWDS 材料-高密度聚乙烯（HDPE）、聚丙烯（PPL）和聚氯乙烯（PVC）。从 DW 中分离出的不动杆菌和嗜麦芽寡养单胞菌被用于在所选表面材料上形成单种和双种生物膜。与未暴露的生物膜相比，暴露于 MP 7 天会导致生物膜的细胞可培养性、密度和厚度分别增加 233%、150%和 224%，这是最显著的影响。总体而言，与双种生物膜相比，在 HDPE 和 PPL 上，单种生物膜检测到的变化更为明显，这表明所使用的表面材料影响了对苯二甲酸二甲酯对生物膜的作用。当暴露于 MP 7 天时，嗜麦芽寡养单胞菌的游动性和毒力因子（蛋白酶和明胶酶）的产生分别增加了 141%、41%和 73%。总的来说，这些结果强调了对苯二甲酸二甲酯对浮游状态和生物膜中的 DW 细菌的潜在干扰作用，并可能危及 DW 的微生物质量和安全。
