Single and Combined Effects of Aged Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Filtration Systems: Perspectives from Treatment Efficiency, Key Microbial Communities, and Nitrogen Cycling Functional Genes
Microplastics and heavy metal contamination frequently co-occur in stormwater filtration systems, where their interactions may potentially compromise nitrogen removal. Current research on microplastics and Cd contamination predominantly focuses on soils and constructed wetlands, with limited attenti...
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2025-03-01
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| author | Cong Men Zixin Pan Jiayao Liu Sun Miao Xin Yuan Yanyan Zhang Nina Yang Shikun Cheng Zifu Li Jiane Zuo |
| author_facet | Cong Men Zixin Pan Jiayao Liu Sun Miao Xin Yuan Yanyan Zhang Nina Yang Shikun Cheng Zifu Li Jiane Zuo |
| author_sort | Cong Men |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microplastics and heavy metal contamination frequently co-occur in stormwater filtration systems, where their interactions may potentially compromise nitrogen removal. Current research on microplastics and Cd contamination predominantly focuses on soils and constructed wetlands, with limited attention given to stormwater filtration systems. In this study, the single and synergistic effects of aged polyethylene microplastics (PE) and cadmium (Cd) contamination in stormwater infiltration systems were investigated from perspectives of nitrogen removal, microbial community structures, and predicted functional genes in nitrogen cycling. Results showed that PE single contamination demonstrated stronger inhibition on NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup>–N removal than Cd. Low-level PE contamination (PE content: 0.1% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) in Cd-contaminated systems showed stronger inhibitory effect than high-level PE contamination (PE content: 5% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>). The mean NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup>–N removal efficiency under combined Cd50 (Cd concentration: 50 μg/L) and PE5 contamination during the sixth rainstorm event was 1.04 to 34.68 times that under other contamination scenarios. Metagenomic analysis identified keystone genera (<i>Saccharimonadales</i>, <i>Enterobacter</i>, <i>Aeromonas</i>, etc.), and critical nitrogen transformation pathways (nitrate reduction to ammonium, denitrification, nitrogen fixation, and nitrification) govern system performance. PE and Cd contamination effects were most pronounced on nitrification/denitrification enzymes beyond nitrite oxidase and nitrate reductase. These mechanistic findings advance our understanding of co-contaminant interactions in stormwater filtration systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ee0c24f24dee4e878c05594ac675f503 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1420-3049 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
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| series | Molecules |
| spelling | doaj-art-ee0c24f24dee4e878c05594ac675f5032025-08-20T03:06:16ZengMDPI AGMolecules1420-30492025-03-01307146410.3390/molecules30071464Single and Combined Effects of Aged Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Filtration Systems: Perspectives from Treatment Efficiency, Key Microbial Communities, and Nitrogen Cycling Functional GenesCong Men0Zixin Pan1Jiayao Liu2Sun Miao3Xin Yuan4Yanyan Zhang5Nina Yang6Shikun Cheng7Zifu Li8Jiane Zuo9Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Resource-Oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaMicroplastics and heavy metal contamination frequently co-occur in stormwater filtration systems, where their interactions may potentially compromise nitrogen removal. Current research on microplastics and Cd contamination predominantly focuses on soils and constructed wetlands, with limited attention given to stormwater filtration systems. In this study, the single and synergistic effects of aged polyethylene microplastics (PE) and cadmium (Cd) contamination in stormwater infiltration systems were investigated from perspectives of nitrogen removal, microbial community structures, and predicted functional genes in nitrogen cycling. Results showed that PE single contamination demonstrated stronger inhibition on NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup>–N removal than Cd. Low-level PE contamination (PE content: 0.1% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) in Cd-contaminated systems showed stronger inhibitory effect than high-level PE contamination (PE content: 5% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>). The mean NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup>–N removal efficiency under combined Cd50 (Cd concentration: 50 μg/L) and PE5 contamination during the sixth rainstorm event was 1.04 to 34.68 times that under other contamination scenarios. Metagenomic analysis identified keystone genera (<i>Saccharimonadales</i>, <i>Enterobacter</i>, <i>Aeromonas</i>, etc.), and critical nitrogen transformation pathways (nitrate reduction to ammonium, denitrification, nitrogen fixation, and nitrification) govern system performance. PE and Cd contamination effects were most pronounced on nitrification/denitrification enzymes beyond nitrite oxidase and nitrate reductase. These mechanistic findings advance our understanding of co-contaminant interactions in stormwater filtration systems.https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/7/1464microplasticsstormwater filtration systemnitrogen removalfunctional genesmicrobial community |
| spellingShingle | Cong Men Zixin Pan Jiayao Liu Sun Miao Xin Yuan Yanyan Zhang Nina Yang Shikun Cheng Zifu Li Jiane Zuo Single and Combined Effects of Aged Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Filtration Systems: Perspectives from Treatment Efficiency, Key Microbial Communities, and Nitrogen Cycling Functional Genes Molecules microplastics stormwater filtration system nitrogen removal functional genes microbial community |
| title | Single and Combined Effects of Aged Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Filtration Systems: Perspectives from Treatment Efficiency, Key Microbial Communities, and Nitrogen Cycling Functional Genes |
| title_full | Single and Combined Effects of Aged Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Filtration Systems: Perspectives from Treatment Efficiency, Key Microbial Communities, and Nitrogen Cycling Functional Genes |
| title_fullStr | Single and Combined Effects of Aged Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Filtration Systems: Perspectives from Treatment Efficiency, Key Microbial Communities, and Nitrogen Cycling Functional Genes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Single and Combined Effects of Aged Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Filtration Systems: Perspectives from Treatment Efficiency, Key Microbial Communities, and Nitrogen Cycling Functional Genes |
| title_short | Single and Combined Effects of Aged Polyethylene Microplastics and Cadmium on Nitrogen Species in Stormwater Filtration Systems: Perspectives from Treatment Efficiency, Key Microbial Communities, and Nitrogen Cycling Functional Genes |
| title_sort | single and combined effects of aged polyethylene microplastics and cadmium on nitrogen species in stormwater filtration systems perspectives from treatment efficiency key microbial communities and nitrogen cycling functional genes |
| topic | microplastics stormwater filtration system nitrogen removal functional genes microbial community |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/7/1464 |
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