Toxicity of biochar influenced by aging time and environmental factors

Abstract

The extensive application of biochar has drawn more attentions on its potential risk to aquatic organisms. However, the influence of environmental factors (i.e. pH, HA, SDBS and aging time) after they discharged into environment on their toxicity have not been clarified. Here, we synthesized biochar with local pine needles via pyrolysis, and then aged in different media. Followed, the toxicity of pristine and aged biochar was checked with Scenedesmus obliquus (S. obliquus). Our investigation showed that the toxicity of biochar was mitigated when aged in different pH levels or SDBS, while it was opposite in the presence of HA. The increment of pH decreased the toxicity of both the pristine and the aged biochar, while the presence of HA did same impact on the pristine biochar. The presence of SDBS decreased the toxicity of pristine biochar but increased that of aged biochar. Meanwhile, we showed these environmental factors (pH, HA, SDBS and aging time) influenced the biochar toxicity may be due to the adjustment of the aggregation and adhesion of biochar on cell surfaces or the intracellular oxidative stress. Further, the PFRs contained in biochar did influence the toxicity, along with the physicochemical properties of biochar (i.e. carbon structure, functional group or surface charge). Our results aimed to reflect the toxicity profile of biochar in the natural aquatic environment, without misunderstanding of potential ecological risk of biochar in the future application.