Transformation of phenylarsenic chemical warfare agents and their effect on bacterial communities in Baltic Sea sediment

During the World Wars large quantities of phenylarsenic chemical warfare agents (CWAs) were dumped in the Baltic Sea. Many transformation products of these chemicals have been identified, but the pathways that produce the found chemicals has not been investigated. Here we studied the biotic and abiotic transformation of phenylarsenic CWAs under oxic and anoxic conditions and investigated how the sediment bacterial communities are affected by CWA exposure. By chemical analysis we were able to identify seventeen CWA-related phenyl -arsenicals, four of which (methylphenylarsinic acid (MPAA), phenylthioarsinic acid (PTAA), phenyldithioarsinic acid (PDTAA) and diphenyldithioarsinic acid (DPDTAA)) have not been reported for marine sediments before. For the first time PTAA was verified from environmental samples. We also observed equilibrium reactions be-tween the found transformation products, which may explain the occurrence of the chemicals. 16S rRNA-analysis showed that bacterial communities in sediments are affected by exposure to phenylarsenic CWAs. We observed increases in the amounts of arsenicresistant and sulphur-metabolising bacteria. Different transformation products were found in biotic and abiotic samples, which suggests that bacteria participate in the transformation of phenylarsenic CWAs. We propose that methylated phenylarsenicals are produced in microbial metabolism and that chemical reactions with microbially produced sulphur species form sulphur-containing transformation products.

Automated summary

This study investigated the transformation of phenylarsenic chemical warfare agents (CWAs) in the Baltic Sea sediment and discovered several new transformation products. It also found that bacterial communities in the sediment were affected by exposure to phenylarsenic CWAs.