Production and toxicological evaluation of poly(butylene succinate)–urea microspheres targeting bioremediation

Abstract

BACKGROUND: As population and fuel demand increase, many events of oil spills in the environment have been recorded. In order to restore these environments, several techniques have been proposed in the literature, especially in the field of bioremediation, with their main advantage being a low impact on the environment. In this work, poly(butylene succinate) microspheres containing urea were produced, representing a source of controlled release of nitrogen to the environment, promoting the biostimulation of the native microbiota of contaminated sites. Experiments were conducted based on the biostimulation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and assessed the growth of the culture, the controlled release of urea, the substrate consumption and the toxicity of the microspheres using Artemia salina. RESULTS:The results showed that the double-emulsion methodology for urea encapsulation was efficient, with controlled release occurring up to 72 h. The urea-containing microspheres promoted microbial growth with higher protein synthesis (198.66 ∼g mL −1 ) in 72 h, from the consumption of glucose and urea, within the release limitations. The ecotoxicity of the urea-containing microspheres was tested with A. salina and the results showed a CL50 of 0.027 mg (10 mL) −1 , not recommending its use in the aquatic environment for this organism. CONCLUSIONS:The assays revealed that poly(butylene succinate) microspheres, both with urea and without this active ingredient, may not present toxicity to microorganisms such as P. aeruginosa and be toxic to more complex organisms such as A. salina.

Synthesis And Ecotoxicological Evaluation of Gelatin‐Urea Delivery System for Biostimulation Purposes

“…The absorbance reads were compared with the urea calibration curve, previously constructed from a standard solution of urea supplied by the same enzymatic kit, which allowed the construction of the kinetic curve for the release of urea in the solution. [ 29 ] The urea calibration curve constructed presented the following the Equation : $$$$\begin{equation}y\ = \ 0.0073x - 0.0036\end{equation}$$$$…”

Bioremediation: Perspectives of the use biopolymers systems for slow release nutrients

“…in Brazil, and is highlighted for its simplicity and low cost (24)(25)(26). The biostimulation's primary objective is to stimulate the development of the native soil microbial population by adjusting the environmental parameters (17,(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34), such as aeration, soil humidity, pH, etc., although the nutritional correction is one of the main limiting parameters of the process (35,36). In nature, nutrients, mainly nitrogen, can be found in low concentrations or even be unavailable in the contaminated environment and tend to reduce further during the process of contaminant degradation affecting microbial growth and, consequently, the conversion of the contaminant (24).…”

“…The bioremediation can be used in situ, in both marine and soil environments which provides a lower cost and lower secondary contamination (17). However, nutritional deficiency in the medium can impair the stimulation and growth of these microorganisms.…”

A 30-Year Review on Nanocomposites: Comprehensive Bibliometric Insights into Microstructural, Electrical, and Mechanical Properties Assisted by Artificial Intelligence

“…The exploration of the nanoscopic world has brought nanocomposites to the forefront of research, signifying a breakthrough in multiple domains, including environmental recovery [ 23 , 34 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ], electronics [ 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 ], energy storage [ 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 ], and healthcare [ 102 ,…”

“…The exploration of the nanoscopic world has brought nanocomposites to the forefront of research, signifying a breakthrough in multiple domains, including environmental recovery [23,34,[52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70], electronics [71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81], energy storage [82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100]…”