Plasticizers inhibit food waste anaerobic digestion performance by affecting microbial succession and metabolism

Panliang Wang; Yinglong Su; Dong Wu; Bing Xie

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134554

Plasticizers inhibit food waste anaerobic digestion performance by affecting microbial succession and metabolism

J Hazard Mater. 2024 May 7:473:134554. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134554. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Panliang Wang¹, Yinglong Su², Dong Wu², Bing Xie³

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Biotransformation of Organic Solid Waste, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China; Henan International Joint Laboratory of Aquatic Toxicology and Health Protection, College of Life Sciences, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, PR China.
² Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Biotransformation of Organic Solid Waste, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China; Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China.
³ Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Biotransformation of Organic Solid Waste, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China; Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, PR China. Electronic address: bxie@des.ecnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38759407
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134554

Abstract

The widely existed plastic additives plasticizers in organic wastes possibly pose negative influences on anaerobic digestion (AD) performance, the direct evidence about the effects of plasticizers on AD performance is still lacking. This study evaluated the influencing mechanism of two typical plasticizers bisphenol A (BPA) and dioctyl phthalate on the whole AD process. Results indicated that plasticizers addition inhibited methane production, and the inhibiting effects were reinforced with the increase of concentration. By contrast, 50 mg/L BPA exhibited the strongest inhibition on methane production. Physicochemical analysis showed plasticizers inhibited the metabolism efficiency of soluble polysaccharide and volatile fatty acids. Microbial communities analyses suggested that plasticizers inhibited the direct interspecies electron transfer participators of methanogenic archaea (especially Methanosarcina) and syntrophic bacteria. Furthermore, plasticizers inhibited the methane metabolisms, key coenzymes (CoB, CoM, CoF420 and methanofuran) biosynthesis and the metabolisms of major organic matters. This study shed light on the effects of plasticizers on AD performance and provided new insights for assessing the influences of plasticizers or plastic additives on the disposal of organic wastes.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Food waste; Methane metabolism; Microbial communities; Plasticizers.