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Toxic effect of two kinds of mineral collectors on soil microbial richness and activity: analysis by microcalorimetry, microbial count, and enzyme activity assay

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Abstract

Flotation reagents are hugely and increasingly used in mining and other industrial and economic activities from which an important part is discharged into the environment. China could be the most affected country by the resulting pollution. However, their ecotoxicological dimension is still less addressed and understood. This study aimed to analyze the toxic effect of sodium isobutyl xanthate (SIBX) and sodium isopropyl xanthate (SIPX) to soil microbial richness and activity and to make a comparison between the two compounds in regard to their effects on soil microbial and enzymes activities. Different methods, including microcalorimetry, viable cell counts, cell density, and catalase and fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrololase activities measurement, were applied. The two chemicals exhibited a significant inhibitory effect (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) to all parameters, SIPX being more adverse than SIBX. As the doses of SIBX and SIPX increased from 5 to 300 μg g−1 soil, their inhibitory ratio ranged from 4.84 to 45.16 % and from 16.13 to 69.68 %, respectively. All parameters fluctuated with the incubation time (10-day period). FDA hydrolysis was more directly affected but was relatively more resilient than catalase activity. Potential changes of those chemicals in the experimental media and complementarity between experimental techniques were justified.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support by the International Joint Key Project from Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (2010DFB23160), Key project from National Science Foundation of China (41430106), National Natural Science Foundation of China (41273092), Public welfare project of Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (201409042), and Overseas, Hong Kong and Macau Young Scholars Collaborative Research Fund (41328005).We gratefully acknowledge all the supports provided. We are thankful for Dr. Wang Fei, Dr. Weijuan Lin, Mr. Zhimin Yuan, and Mr. Naturinda Norman for their technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy and Environmental Engineering and National International Cooperation Base on Environmental and Energy, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, 100083, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Prudence Bararunyeretse, Jun Yao, Zunwei Guo & Mijia Zhu

  2. School of water resource and Environment Engineering, Sino-Hungarian Joint laboratory of Environmental Science and Health, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China

    Jun Yao & Yunrong Dai

  3. Faculty of Sciences, Biology Department, University of Burundi, Bujumbura, Burundi

    Samuel Bigawa

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  1. Prudence Bararunyeretse
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  2. Jun Yao
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  4. Samuel Bigawa
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  5. Zunwei Guo
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  6. Mijia Zhu
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Correspondence to Jun Yao.

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Bararunyeretse, P., Yao, J., Dai, Y. et al. Toxic effect of two kinds of mineral collectors on soil microbial richness and activity: analysis by microcalorimetry, microbial count, and enzyme activity assay. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 1565–1577 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7905-5

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