Valenzuela, A.; Ballestero, D.; Gan, C.; Lorca, G.; Langa, E.; Pino-Otín, M.R. Hydroquinone Ecotoxicity: Unveiling Risks in Soil and River Ecosystems with Insights into Microbial Resilience. Toxics2024, 12, 115.
Valenzuela, A.; Ballestero, D.; Gan, C.; Lorca, G.; Langa, E.; Pino-Otín, M.R. Hydroquinone Ecotoxicity: Unveiling Risks in Soil and River Ecosystems with Insights into Microbial Resilience. Toxics 2024, 12, 115.
Valenzuela, A.; Ballestero, D.; Gan, C.; Lorca, G.; Langa, E.; Pino-Otín, M.R. Hydroquinone Ecotoxicity: Unveiling Risks in Soil and River Ecosystems with Insights into Microbial Resilience. Toxics2024, 12, 115.
Valenzuela, A.; Ballestero, D.; Gan, C.; Lorca, G.; Langa, E.; Pino-Otín, M.R. Hydroquinone Ecotoxicity: Unveiling Risks in Soil and River Ecosystems with Insights into Microbial Resilience. Toxics 2024, 12, 115.
Abstract
Despite widespread industrial use, the environmental safety of Hydroquinone (HQ), a benzene compound from plants used in processes like cosmetics, remains uncertain. This study evaluated the ecotoxicological impact of HQ on soil and river environments, utilizing non-target indicator organisms from diverse trophic levels: Daphnia magna, Vibrio fischeri, Allium cepa, and Eisenia fetida. For a more environmentally realistic assessment, microbial communities from a river and un-treated soil underwent 16S rRNA gene sequencing, with growth and changes in community-level physiological profiling assessed using Biolog EcoPlate™ assays. The water indicator D. magna exhibited the highest sensitivity to HQ (EC50 = 0.142 µg/mL), followed by V. fischeri (EC50 = 1.446 µg/mL), and A. cepa (LC50 = 7.631 µg/mL), while E. fetida showed the highest resistance (EC50 = 234 mg/Kg). Remarkably, microbial communities mitigated HQ impact in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. River microorganisms displayed minimal inhibition, except for a significant re-duction in polymer metabolism at the highest concentration (100 µg/mL). Soil communities demonstrated resilience up to 100 µg/mL, beyond which there was a significant decrease in population growth and the capacity to metabolize carbohydrates and polymers. Despite microbial mitigation, HQ remains highly toxic to various trophic levels, emphasizing the necessity for en-vironmental regulations.
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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