Characteristics of organic pollutants and their effects on the microbial composition and activity in the industrial soils of Pearl River Delta, China

To investigate the interaction between organic pollutants and soil microorganisms, industrial soils were collected from Pearl River Delta region of China for determining semi-volatile organic pollutants, the community structure and activity of microorganisms. The results showed that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (63.3-4956 mu g kg-1) and phthalate esters (PAEs) (272-65,837 mu g kg-1) were main organic pollutants in the research area soils. Chemical manufacturing industry and plastics manufacturing industry contributed greatly to PAH pollution and PAE pollution, respectively. Organic pollutants changed the biomass of microorganisms. In most industrial soils, the biomass of actinomycetes was the highest in the industrial soils, followed by G- bacteria, G+ bacteria and fungi. The exception was that the biomass of fungi in the soil near chemical manufacturing industry was greater than that of G+ bacteria. The soil microbial biomass (including soil microbial biomass carbon, soil microbial biomass nitrogen, the biomass of actinomycetes, bacteria, and fungi) and soil enzyme activities (sucrase and urease) positively correlated with the organic pollutant residues, and the microbial species diversity and microbial species abundance decreased with organic pollutant residues increasing. Based on the correlation analysis, the urease activity, actinomycetes biomass, and fungi biomass were appropriate biological indicators for evaluating the stress of organic pollutants. Our research provides a new perspective for understanding the soil biological response in industrial soils.

Automated summary

The main organic pollutants in the industrial soils of the Pearl River Delta region of China were polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and phthalate esters (PAEs). These organic pollutants affected the biomass and enzyme activities of soil microorganisms, as well as decreased microbial species diversity and abundance. Urease activity, actinomycetes biomass, and fungi biomass were identified as suitable biological indicators for evaluating the stress of organic pollutants.