Although arsenic
(As) groundwater contamination in South and Southeast
Asia is a threat to human health, mechanisms of its release from sediment
to groundwater are still not fully understood. In many aquifers, Fe(III)
minerals are often the main hosting phases for As and their stability
is crucial for As mobility. Recently, a new mechanism for As mobilization
into groundwater was proposed with methane (CH4) serving
as an electron donor for microbially mediated reductive dissolution
of As-bearing Fe(III) minerals. To provide unequivocal evidence for
the occurrence of Fe(III)-coupled methanotrophy, we incubated sediments
from an As-contaminated aquifer in Hanoi (Vietnam) anoxically with
isotopically labeled 13CH4. Up to 35% of the
available Fe(III) was reduced within 232 days with simultaneous production
of 13CO2 demonstrating anaerobic oxidation of 13CH4 with Fe(III) as the electron acceptor. The
microbial community at the end of the incubation was dominated by
archaea affiliating with Candidatus Methanoperedens,
implying its involvement in Fe(III)-dependent CH4 oxidation.
These results suggest that methanotrophs can contribute to dissolution
of As-bearing Fe(III) minerals, which eventually leads to As-release
into groundwater.
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