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Phosphorus (P) resource availability is declining and the efficiency of applied nutrients in agricultural soils is becoming increasingly important. This is especially true for P-fertilizers from recycled materials which often have a lower plant-availability compared to commercial P-fertilizers but are expected to play an increasingly important role into the future (Kratz et al. 2019). One promising way to increase the plant-availability of the fertilizer P is a co-fertilization with specific nitrogen (N) forms which can enhance the P uptake and make P-fertilizers from recycled material more competitive to commercial phosphate rock-based P-fertilizers (Rahmatullah et al. 2006; Vogel et al. 2018). To investigate this effect, we performed a pot experiment with three different P-fertilizers (sewage sludge-based, phosphate rock and triple superphosphate) and ammonium nitrate sulfate as a co-fertilizer, without and with a nitrification inhibitor (NI), and analyzed the form of N and P in soil via a suite of chemical and novel X-ray spectroscopic methods. The application of NI with the P and N fertilizers led to a higher dry matter yield and a higher P uptake of maize. Novel N K-edge micro-X-ray absorption near-edge structure (micro-XANES) spectroscopy identified that the application of a NI promotes the temporary formation of a non-exchangeable N in detectable hot-spots in the soil. The subsequent slow release and prolonged availability of N during plant growth leads to higher yield and nutrient uptake. It can be concluded that NIs lead to a temporary fixation of ammonium-N in a pool that can be accessed by plant roots. Those types of available nutrient pools meet the idea of so-called “next generation fertilizers” as plants have access to nutrients according to their current demand.
Phosphorus (P) fertilizers from secondary resources became increasingly important in the last years. However, these novel P-fertilizer can also contain toxic pollutants e.g. chromium (Cr) in the hexavalent state (Cr(VI)), which is regulated with low limit values in agricultural products (German fertilizer ordinance limit: 2 mg/kg Cr(VI)). The determination of Cr(VI) in these novel fertilizer matrices can be hampered by redox processes that lead to false results with the standard wet chemical extraction method (German norm DIN EN 15192). Therefore, we analyzed Cr(VI) in various P-fertilizers with the DGT technique. DGT devices equipped with a APA (polyacrylamide) diffusion layer and Cr(VI) selective N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG) binding layer were used for the study. After a 24 h conditioning period of the fertilizer at 60% of the water holding capacity (WHC), the fertilizers were brought to 100% WHC, transferred onto the DGT devices and deployed for 24 h at 25°C. The extraction of Cr from the DGT binding layer was carried out with 1 M HNO3 for 24 h. The Cr-concentrations of the extract were determined by means of ICP-MS. We found a good correlation between the standard wet chemical extraction and the DGT method for the whole range of P-fertilizers. However, partly soluble Cr(VI) compounds cannot be detected in full extent by the DGT method that is best suited for mobile Cr(VI). Furthermore, Cr K-edge XANES spectroscopy showed that the Cr(VI)-selective DGT binding layer also adsorbs mobile Cr(III) compounds from acid treatment of phosphates which can therefore cause an overestimation of Cr(VI). The DGT method was very sensitive and in most cases selective for the analysis of Cr(VI) in P-fertilizers made from recycled materials. However, the results of certain types of P-fertilizers containing mobile Cr(III) or partly immobile Cr(VI) show that still some optimization of the method is required to avoid over- or underestimation of Cr(VI).
Bottom ash (BA) from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) contains harmful substances such as heavy metals, chloride and sulfate which are mobilized in contact with water. Standardized leaching tests are used to measure the extent of mobilization. It is known that fresh bottom ash displays elevated concentrations of various heavy metals such as lead or zinc due to the formation of hydroxo complexes as a result of high pH values of 12 and above. Storage of BA is accompanied by ageing processes, mainly the reaction of CaO and Ca(OH)2 with CO2 leading to lower pH values in contact with water around 11. Usually heavy metals concentrations are minimum at these conditions. Knowledge of the long-term leaching behavior of potentially harmful substances is crucial for the assessment of the environmental compatibility of reusing municipal solid-waste incineration bottom ash (MSWI BA) in construction, i.e., as a road base layer. BA fractions obtained from wet-processing aiming at the improvement of environmental quality were used to investigate the mobility of relevant substances. Eluates from laboratory-scaled leaching procedures (column percolation and lysimeters) were analyzed to learn about the long-term release of substances. Unsaturated conditions and artificial rainwater were used in the lysimeter tests to simulate field conditions. In addition, batch test eluates were generated at usual liquid-to-solid ratios (L/S) for compliance testing purposes. A variety of cations and anions was measured in the eluates. The wet treatment reduces the leaching of chloride and particularly sulfate by more than 60%. The release of typical contaminants for the treated MSWI BA such as the heavy metals Cu and Cr was well below 1% in the conducted leaching tests. An increase in the Sb concentration was observed in the lysimeter experiments starting at L/S 0.75 L/kg and in the column experiment at L/S 4 L/kg is assumed to be related to decreasing concentrations of Ca and thus to the dissolution of sparingly soluble calcium antimonate. The same leaching mechanism applies with V, but the concentration levels observed are less critical regarding relevant limit values. However, on the long term the behavior of Sb could be problematic for the application of MSWI BA as secondary building material.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of anionic, cationic and zwitterionic synthetic products, in which the hydrogen atoms on the carbon skeleton of at least one carbon atom have been completely replaced by fluorine atoms and which include more than 4730 compounds, depending on the definition. As a result of continuous and prolific use, mainly in aviation firefighting foams, thousands of industrial and military installations have been found to contain contaminated soil, groundwater and surface water. As a result of the perpetual use of PFAS containing products, effluents and sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been observed to be an important pathway for PFAS into the environment. In Germany, phosphorus and other nutrients from sewage sludge and wastewater should be recycled in WWTPs of cities with a large population. However, it is not clear if PFAS contamination from wastewater and sewage sludge end up in novel wastewater-based fertilizers. Normally, PFAS are analyzed using PFAS protocols typically with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) quantification. To get a better overview of the amount of “total PFAS,” we applied sum parameter methods based on combustion ion chromatography (CIC) to screen the PFAS contaminations in various sewage sludge and wastewater-based fertilizers. Furthermore, current decontamination strategies of PFAS-burdened soils mainly consist of adsorption methods using adsorbents for fixation of PFAS in the ground. A second option is the utilization of a “pump and treat” process, cycling polluted soils through a washing plant leading to the concentration of the pollutants in the fine fraction. Only a subsequent, high-energy consuming pyrolysis process guarantees the total destruction of all fluorinated organic contaminants. Both approaches are cost-intensive and not intended for the direct decomposition of all PFAS contaminants. Hence, there is a great demand for innovative developments and chemical treatment technologies, dealing with new strategies of tackling the PFAS problem.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of anionic, cationic and zwitterionic synthetic products, in which the hydrogen atoms on the carbon skeleton of at least one carbon atom have been completely replaced by fluorine atoms and which include more than 4730 compounds, depending on the definition. As a result of continuous and prolific use, mainly in aviation firefighting foams, thousands of industrial and military installations have been found to contain contaminated soil, groundwater and surface water. Furthermore, current decontamination strategies of PFAS-burdened soils mainly consist of adsorption methods using adsorbents for fixation of PFAS in the ground. Hence, there is a great demand for innovative developments and chemical treatment technologies, dealing with new strategies of tackling the PFAS problem. Thus, we investigated mechanochemical treatment of PFAS contaminated soils with various additives in a ball mill and analyzed the PFAS defluorination. In this presentation the advantages of fluorine K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy for various environment samples are shown.
A wide range of methods are used to estimate the plant-availability of soil phosphorus (P). Published research has shown that the diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) technique has a superior correlation to plant-available P in soils compared to standard chemical extraction tests. In order to identify the plant-available soil P species, we combined DGT with infrared and P K- and L-edge X-ray adsorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. This was achieved by spectroscopically investigating the dried binding layer of DGT devices after soil deployment. All three spectroscopic methods were able to distinguish between different kinds of phosphates (poly-, trimeta-, pyro- and orthophosphate) on the DGT binding layer. However, infrared spectroscopy was most sensitive to distinguish between different types of adsorbed inorganic and organic phosphates. Additionally, also intermediates of the time-resolved hydrolysis of trimetaphosphate in soil could be analyzed. Furthermore, infrared and XANES microspectroscopy make it also possible to analyze P compounds on the binding layer with a lateral resolution down to 1 µm2. Therefore, P species of a spatial soil segment (e.g. rhizosphere) can be mapped and analyzed.
Phosphorus (P) plays an essential role in the global food security. However, the global P reservoirs have a statistic lifetime of about 385 years only. Due to the scarcity of P and the increasing world population an efficient and sustainable recycling management is required. A few biogenic waste materials are high in P contents such as sewage sludge and meat and bone meal. Thus, they are suitable for P recycling and fertilizer production. But besides the high P content sewage sludge is often highly contaminated with organic pollutants and toxic heavy metals which have to be eliminated before agricultural field application. In this presentation we show the potential of sewage sludge as secondary resource for fertilizers. This includes our developments in thermochemical processes for the production of novel P-fertilizers from recycled materials. Furthermore, for these novel P-fertilizers common extraction tests to determine the plant-available P are often unusable. Therefore, we successfully applied the Diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) techniques to analyse the plant-availability of P-fertilizers from recycled materials.
Previous research shows that analytical methods based on Diffusive Gradients in Thin films (DGT) provide very good correlations to the amount of bioavailable nutrients and pollutants in the environmental samples. However, these DGT results do not identify which compound of the specific element has the high bioavailability. Using various spectroscopic techniques (infrared, XANES and NMR spectroscopy) to analyze the dried DGT binding layers after deployment could allow us to determine the specific elements or compounds. Nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen are often, together with other elements, present as molecules in the environment. These ions are detectable and distinguishable by infrared and NMR spectroscopy, respectively. In addition, XANES spectroscopy allows for the specification of nutrients and pollutants (e.g. chromium) on the DGT binding layer. Furthermore, microspectroscopic techniques make it also possible to analyze compounds on the DGT binding layer with a lateral resolution down to 5 µm2. Therefore, species of elements and compounds of e.g. a spatial soil segment can be mapped and analyzed, providing valuable insight to understand the dynamics of nutrients and pollutants in the environment. Here we will present the advantages and limitations of this novel combination of techniques.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals which were developed to improve humanity’s quality of life. Due to their high chemical stability and resistance to degradation by heat or acids, PFAS were used in a variety of consumer products. The continuous use of PFAS in household products and the discharge of PFAS from industrial plants into the sewer system resulted in the contamination of effluents and sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) (Roesch et al. 2022). Since sewage sludge is often used as fertilizer, its application on agricultural soils has been observed as a significant entry path for PFAS into the environment, specifically in our food chain. In Germany the sewage sludge/biosolid application on agricultural land was banned with the amendment of the German Sewage Sludge Ordinance and by 2029 sewage sludge application will be totally prohibited. However, phosphorus (P) from sewage sludge should still be recycled in WWTPs of cities with a population larger than 50,000 residents. To produce high-quality P-fertilizers for a circular economy, PFAS and other pollutants (e.g. pesticides and pharmaceuticals) must be separated from sewage sludge. Due to the strong diversity of industrial PFAS usage it is not clear if a safe application of novel recycled P-fertilizers from WWTPs can be guaranteed. Therefore, we analyzed various sewage sludges and wastewater-based fertilizers. Sewage sludge (SL) samples from various WWTPs in Germany and Switzerland, six sewage sludge ashes (SSA) from Germany, six thermally treated SL and SSA samples with different additives (temperatures: 700-1050 °C), two pyrolyzed SL samples (temperature: 400 °C) and two struvite samples from Germany and Canada were analyzed. The goal was to quantify PFAS in sewage sludges and wastewater-based P-fertilizers with the sum parameter extractable organic fluorine (EOF) by combustion ion chromatography (CIC). The results were compared with data from classical LC-MS/MS target analysis as well as selected samples by HR-MS suspect screening. The EOF values of the SLs mainly range between 154 and 538 µg/kg except for one SL which showed an elevated EOF value of 7209 µg/kg due to high organofluorine contamination. For the SSA samples the EOF values were lower and values between LOQ (approx. 60 µg/kg) and 121 µg/kg could be detected. For the pyrolyzed SLs no EOF values above the LOQ were detected. Moreover, the two wastewater-based struvite fertilizers contain 96 and 112 µg/kg EOF, respectively. In contrast to the EOF values, the sum of PFAS target values were relatively low for all SLs. Additional applied PFAS HR-MS suspect screening aimed to tentatively identify PFAS that could contribute to the hitherto unknown part of the EOF value. The majority of the detected fluorinated compounds are legacy PFAS such as short- and long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCA), perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSA), polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters (PAPs) and perfluorophosphonic acids (PFPA). Moreover, fluorinated pesticides, pharmaceutical as well as aromatic compounds were also identified, which are all included in the EOF parameter. Our research revealed that the current PFAS limit of 100 µg/kg for the sum of PFOS + PFOA in the German Fertilizer Ordinance is no longer up to date. Since the number of known PFAS already exceeds 10,000, the ordinance limit should be updated accordingly. Recent regulations and restrictions on using long-chain PFAS (≥C8) have resulted in a significant shift in the industry towards (ultra-)short-chain alternatives, and other, partly unknown, emerging PFAS. Ultimately, also fluorinated pesticides and pharmaceuticals, which end up as ultrashort PFAS in the WWTPs, have to be considered as possible pollutants in fertilizers from wastewater, too.
Halomonas elongata is a halophilic γ-proteobacterium that synthesizes and accumulates the compatible solute ectoine to cope with osmotic stress in saline environments. Ectoine possesses protecting properties and stabilizes proteins as well as whole cells against stresses like ionizing radiation and cytotoxins. These properties make ectoine a highly demanded ingredient in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. To date H. elongata is the industrial Producer strain of ectoine, but several metabolic factors for optimum ectoine production remain to be explored.
In this work, we used up to date Metabolic engineering approaches following the ‘Push, Pull, Block – strategy’ to examine targets that contribute to ectoine synthesis. Firstly, the basics of glucose catabolism were inspected to PUSH and enhance carbon flow towards ectoine synthesis. Secondly, lysine biosynthesis was targeted to BLOCK a pathway that is competing for precursors with ectoine synthesis. Thirdly, the mechanosensitive (MS) channels of H. elongata have been examined as possible excretion routes for ectoine. An overexpression of the ectoine excretion channels potentially could PULL out product at the end of ectoine synthesis and increase overall ectoine flux. For the interrogation of central metabolic pathways, we established the new molecular tool CRISPR-mediated interference (CRISPRi) for targeted modulation of gene expression.
PUSH Glucose catabolism through the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) and Emden-Meyerhof-Parnas (EMP) pathway was targeted with CRISPRi and examined on gene expression level for ist response to changing salinity and different carbon sources. Changing salinity did not influence gene expression levels of glucose catabolism but the carbon source glucose triggered glycolysis through the (ED) pathway. When gene expression of the ED pathway was downregulated with CRISPRi, the growth rates remained constant. The observations indicate a metabolic overflow mechanism for glycolysis, in which fluxes are constantly high - even at lower salinity when no resources are demanded for ectoine synthesis. The further analysis of glucose to product conversion rates will advise optimum conditions for future industrial cultivation processes.
BLOCK Lysine biosynthesis was downregulated with CRISPRi, which led to a significant increase in ectoine production. Hence, the blockage of lysine biosynthesis would be a valuable strategy for the optimization of the industrial producer strain in future studies.
PULL MS channels and ectoine regulation are inevitably connected in osmoadaptation. Therefore, ectoine excretion, growth performance and gene expression levels of the MS channels were monitored in steady state conditions and in response to osmotic shock in the wildtype strain and in a MS channel deletion mutant. We observed that the MS channels were essential for the survival of osmotic shock but surprisingly their presence reduced cell growth under high salinity. The MS channels were only partially responsible for ectoine excretion.
Thus, alternative ectoine excretion channels must exist and remain to be explored.