Temporal dynamics of heavy metal distribution and associated microbial community in ambient aerosols from vanadium smelter.

Heavy metals (HMs) such as vanadium (V), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) are released into atmosphere during V smelting activities, resulting in their co-existence with airborne microbes. However, little is known about HMs distributions and associated microbes in aerosols from such industrial districts. This study reveals seasonal dynamics of HMs and microbes in ambient aerosols from V smelter in Panzhihua, China. Multiple HMs were detected, while V concentration was the highest, maximizing at 228.0 ± 10.3 ng/m3 in Spring. Health risks displayed similar trends to HMs distributions, and children were posed much higher risks than adults due to their more sensitivity to HMs. V and As contributed dramatically to total health risks among all examined HMs. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis revealed microbes tolerant to V, Zn, As, Cr, Cu and Ni. Acinetobacter widely existed with function of detoxifying V(V) and more species as Bacillus, Gobacter and Thauera tolerating V, Zn, As, Cr, Cu and Ni appeared in Summer. These findings shed light on understandings of HMs dynamics and associated microbial community in aerosols from smelting regions.