Response of microbial communities to naturally occurring radioactive material–contaminated sediments: a microcosm-based study

Amy MacIntosh*, Katherine Dafforn, Anthony Chariton, Darren Koppel, Tom Cresswell, Francesca Gissi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

There is a growing need to understand the potential ecological impacts of contaminants in offshore oil and gas infrastructure, especially if that infrastructure is to be left in situ as a decommissioning option. Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) is one type of contaminant found in solid deposits on internal surfaces of infrastructure that poses potential ecological harm if released into the marine environment. Microbes are important components of marine sediment ecosystems because they provide ecosystem services, yet the impacts of NORM contamination to these communities are not well understood. The present study aimed to investigate the response of benthic microbial communities to NORM-contaminated scale, collected from an offshore oil and gas system, via controlled laboratory microcosm studies. Changes to microbial communities in natural sediment and sediments spiked with NORM at radium-226 activity concentrations ranging from 9.5 to 59.8 Bq/kg (in partial equilibria with progeny) over 7 and 28 days were investigated using high-throughput sequencing of environmental DNA extracted from experimental sediments. There were no significant differences in microbial community composition between control and scale-spiked sediments over 7 and 28 days. However, we observed a greater presence of Firmicutes in the scale-mixed treatment and Chloroflexi in the scale-surface treatments after 28 days. This could suggest selection for species with contaminant tolerance or potential resilience to radiation and metal toxicity. Further research is needed to explore microbial tolerance mechanisms and their potential as indicators of effects of radionuclide-contaminated sediments. The present study demonstrated that microcosm studies can provide valuable insights about the potential impacts of contamination from oil and gas infrastructure to sediment microbial communities. 

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1648-1661
Number of pages14
JournalEnvironmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Volume43
Issue number7
Early online date31 May 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2024

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2024. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

  • Contaminants of emerging concern
  • Ecological risk assessment
  • Ecotoxicology
  • eDNA
  • Microbial toxicology
  • Oil and gas
  • Radionuclides

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