Bacterial-facilitated uranium transport in the presence of phytate at Savannah River Site.

Bacterial-facilitated uranium transport in the presence of phytate at Savannah River Site.
Chemosphere. 2019 May;223:351-357
Authors: Li R, Ibeanusi V, Hoyle-Gardner J, Crandall C, Jagoe C, Seaman J, Anandhi A, Chen G
Abstract
At the Department of Energy (DOE) managed Savannah River Site (SRS), uranium and other heavy metals continue to pose threats to the ecosystem health and processes. In the oxic soil of this site, uranium is present primarily as soluble salts of the uranyl ion (i.e., U(VI) or UO22+). Although UO22+ has a strong sorption to the soil, the mobile indigenous bacteria may facilitate its transport. On the contrary, precipitation of UO22+ with phosphate has been found to be an alternative remediation strategy. This research investigated the effects of mobile bacteria and phytate on UO22+ transport at SRS in column experiments. It was discovered that UO22+ can barely be mobilized by de-ionized water but can be significantly transported with the aid of mobile indigenous bacteria. UO22+ had the most facilitated transport observation when it reached equilibrium with the bacteria before the transport. When UO22+ and bacterial were introduced to the soil at the same time or UO22+ was pre-deposited in the soil, the facilitated transport was less pronounced. In the presence of phytate, bacterial-facilitated UO22+ transport was hindered. pH was found to play the key role for UO22+ immobilization in the presence of phytate. The i...

Source: Chemosphere - April 30, 2019 Category: Chemistry Authors: Li R, Ibeanusi V, Hoyle-Gardner J, Crandall C, Jagoe C, Seaman J, Anandhi A, Chen G Tags: Chemosphere Source Type: research