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Permeable reactive surface-biobarriers. Testing and evaluation of an ecotechnology for the removal of agrotoxic compounds carried by agricultural runoffs

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Abstract

Purpose

The objective of the work is to determine the best operating conditions for variants of an ecological engineering tool (permeable reactive surface biobarrier -PRSB-) potentially useful for the protection of water resources, preventing the arrival of sediments and pesticides transported by runoffs and tile drainage from agricultural lands, to water bodies.

Methods

Four PRB-prototypes were constructed as fixed-bed horizontal channels packed with a porous material supporting an enriched microbial biofilm. Their dynamic and stoichiometric performance was evaluated in the presence or absence of granular activated carbon, with limiting or sufficient O2 supply. The removal of the pesticides and their leading catabolic derivatives were determined by HPLC. The most abundant cultivable microorganisms were isolated and identified by the sequencing of 16sDNA amplicons.

Results

The pollutant removal efficiencies obtained in the aerobic biobarriers or microaerophilia were similar. In addition, slight differences were observed in the presence of GAC as an adsorbent, meaning that the most economical and straightforward type of biobarrier was adequate to remove the pollutants studied. In addition, among the most abundant microorganisms isolated in the microbial biofilms colonizing the aerobic biobarriers, the microalgae Micractinium sp. showed the capacity to accumulate the insecticides permethrin and cypermethrin.

Conclusions

The main observed role of Micractinium sp. in the aerobic barriers was the bioaccumulation of pyrethroids, meaning that biosorption is also a valuable removal mechanism operating in the aerobic PRBs. In this aspect, they behave analogously to subsurface constructed wetlands but, instead of superficial plant life, aerobic PRSBs host microalgae.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Secretaría de Investigación y Posgrado, (Grant SIP-IPN, 20180649). The authors thank COFAA-IPN and SNI-Conacyt for the scholarships awarded to NRO, CJR, and JGM; to Conacyt and SIP-IPN for a fellowship to ECB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Bioingeniería, Departamento de Ingeniería Bioquímica, ENCB, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. Wilfrido Massieu 399, Nueva Industrial Vallejo, Ciudad de México, CP 07738, México

    Eduardo Contreras-Blancas, Nora Ruiz-Ordaz, Juvencio Galíndez-Mayer, Rosario Erea Torres-Gómez, Alfredo Arias Ruiz & Cleotilde Juárez-Ramírez

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  1. Eduardo Contreras-Blancas
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  2. Nora Ruiz-Ordaz
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Correspondence to Juvencio Galíndez-Mayer.

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Contreras-Blancas, E., Ruiz-Ordaz, N., Galíndez-Mayer, J. et al. Permeable reactive surface-biobarriers. Testing and evaluation of an ecotechnology for the removal of agrotoxic compounds carried by agricultural runoffs. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 18, 559–571 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-020-00482-z

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