Methylated bismuth in the environment

Feldmann, Jörg; Krupp, Eva M.; Glindemann, Dietmar; Hirner, Alfred V.; Cullen, William R.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-0739(199910)13:10<739::aid-aoc925>3.0.co;2-z

Cited by 40 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(25 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

supporting

confidence: 93%

“…These compounds are leached out in aquatic environments and undergo dealkylation and methylation (9, 17). Trimethylbismuth (TMBi) has been found in gases released from municipal waste deposits and sewage gases (18,20,21), but the origin of this compound is unclear.The present study is a further step toward an ecological evaluation of the process of biomethylation within a specific environmental scenario. The production of volatile metal(loid) compounds by the microflora adapted to the habitat of the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge was investigated to estimate not only the ecological risk by the release of the mostly toxic compounds evolved during anaerobic sludge stabilization and other anaerobic processes established in waste management but also to provide a basis for the development of ecologically friendly practices.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Production of Volatile Derivatives of Metal(loid)s by Microflora Involved in Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge

Michalke¹,

Wickenheiser

Mehring³

et al. 2000

Appl Environ Microbiol

190

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gases released from anaerobic wastewater treatment facilities contain considerable amounts of volatile methyl and hydride derivatives of metals and metalloids, such as arsine (AsH 3 ), monomethylarsine, dimethylarsine, trimethylarsine, trimethylbismuth (TMBi), elemental mercury (Hg 0 ), trimethylstibine, dimethyltellurium, and tetramethyltin. Most of these compounds could be shown to be produced by pure cultures of microorganisms which are representatives of the anaerobic sewage sludge microflora, i.e., methanogenic archaea (Methanobacterium formicicum, Methanosarcina barkeri, Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum), sulfate-reducing bacteria (Desulfovibrio vulgaris, D. gigas), and a peptolytic bacterium (Clostridium collagenovorans). Additionally, dimethylselenium and dimethyldiselenium could be detected in the headspace of most of the pure cultures. This is the first report of the production of TMBi, stibine, monomethylstibine, and dimethylstibine by a pure culture of M. formicicum.Volatile methyl and hydride derivatives of metal(loid)s are found in gases released from natural environments such as sediments, wetlands (40), and hydrothermal springs (26), as well as from anthropogenic environments such as wastewater treatment plants and waste deposits (18). Some of the compounds are of anthropogenic origin, for example, alkylated tin and lead derivatives, whereas others are produced in environmental settings either due to chemical transalkylation or due to biologically mediated methylation and hydride formation (the addition of a formal hydride ion mediated by an organism) (11,36). The production of volatile metal(loid) compounds is a significant part of the biogeochemical cycles of metals (e.g., Bi, Hg, and Sn) and metalloids (e.g., As, Sb, Se, and Te) because of the increased mobility of the resultant compounds. Additionally, most of the volatile derivatives exhibit higher toxicity than their inorganic counterparts, since organic derivatives are lipophilic and are thus more biologically active (35,36). Exceptions are arsenic and selenium, in which cases the inorganic, nonmethylated forms are more toxic than the methylated derivatives (14).Following the pioneering work of Gosio (23) and Challenger et al. (6, 7), the mechanism for the biomethylation of arsenic has been studied extensively with various fungi (10, 15), bacteria (3), archaea (3, 30), and mammals (1, 38, 41), including humans (13). As proposed by Challenger, the biomethylation of selenium and tellurium follows the same mechanism as arsenic but, in general, studies investigating these processes are rather rare (16,22,38). Mercury biomethylation, on the other hand, has been studied in more detail because of poisonings by methylmercury compounds (4,8,29,33). Although stibine has been implicated as a cause in sudden infant death syndrome (31), up to now, only trimethylantimony was detected as a biovolatilization product of antimony in the headspace of soil samples (24) and of pure cultures of Scopulariopsis brevicaulis (12,27). The biomethylation of inorg...

show abstract

supporting

confidence: 93%

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Production of Volatile Derivatives of Metal(loid)s by Microflora Involved in Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge

Michalke¹,

Wickenheiser

Mehring³

et al. 2000

Appl Environ Microbiol

190

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The annual worldwide generation of trimethybismuth was estimated at 30 to 4,980 kg. There was little evidence for nonvolatile methylbismuth compounds in sediments and freshwaters (88). Anaerobic wastewater treatment gases contained trimethylbismuth, and pure cultures of M. formicicum produced significant amounts of trimethylbismuth from Bi(NO 3 ) 3 .…”

Section: Methylation Of Bismuthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth

Bentley

Chasteen

2002

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

515

316

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A significant 19th century public health problem was that the inhabitants of many houses containing wallpaper decorated with green arsenical pigments experienced illness and death. The problem was caused by certain fungi that grew in the presence of inorganic arsenic to form a toxic, garlic-odored gas. The garlic odor was actually put to use in a very delicate microbiological test for arsenic. In 1933, the gas was shown to be trimethylarsine. It was not until 1971 that arsenic methylation by bacteria was demonstrated. Further research in biomethylation has been facilitated by the development of delicate techniques for the determination of arsenic species. As described in this review, many microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and yeasts) and animals are now known to biomethylate arsenic, forming both volatile (e.g., methylarsines) and nonvolatile (e.g., methylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid) compounds. The enzymatic mechanisms for this biomethylation are discussed. The microbial conversion of sodium arsenate to trimethylarsine proceeds by alternate reduction and methylation steps, with S-adenosylmethionine as the usual methyl donor. Thiols have important roles in the reductions. In anaerobic bacteria, methylcobalamin may be the donor. The other metalloid elements of the periodic table group 15, antimony and bismuth, also undergo biomethylation to some extent. Trimethylstibine formation by microorganisms is now well established, but this process apparently does not occur in animals. Formation of trimethylbismuth by microorganisms has been reported in a few cases. Microbial methylation plays important roles in the biogeochemical cycling of these metalloid elements and possibly in their detoxification. The wheel has come full circle, and public health considerations are again important

show abstract

“…During the mid 1990s environmentally occurring Me 3 Bi was detected in gases emitted from sewage sludge [96,100] and volatile bismuth species were detected in gases from municipal waste deposits [146]. In later work, Feldmann et al [147] used cryotrapping gas chromatography and HG coupled with an ICP-MS to detect Me 3 Sb in landfill and sewage gas. Among other volatile metal compounds, Me 3 Bi was found to be a major component in the gases of sludge digesters, with concentrations up to 25 mg l À1 measured at sewage treatment plants [147].…”

Section: Organobismuth Compounds In the Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomethylation of Arsenic, Antimony and Bismuth

Jenkins

2010

Biological Chemistry of Arsenic, Antimony and Bismuth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biomethylation of metals or metalloids refers to the process whereby living organisms cause direct linkage of methyl groups to the metal(loid)s through enzymatic transfer of a preformed methyl group. The attachment of a methyl group to a metal(loid) changes the chemical and physical properties of the element, which in turn influences its mobility, geological cycling and toxicity. Biomethylation of the following metal(loid)s have been definitively established, although for most very little is known about the biological mechanism involved: Cd, Hg, Tl, Ge, Sn, Pb, As, Sb, Bi, Se and Te. The biological systems responsible for metal(loid) biomethylation are almost exclusively microorganisms. Anaerobic prokaryotes, operating in anoxic environments such as sediments from environmental waters and landfill sites, are major biocatalysts of metal(loid) biomethylation in the natural environment. Methylmetal(loid)s have also been shown to occur in soils from disparate locations and some aerobic and facultatively anaerobic bacteria, fungi and lower algae have been shown to be capable of metal(loid) biomethylation. Although higher organisms have not been shown to biomethylate true metals, methyl derivatives of some metalloids (including those of Se and As) are formed in a wide range of higher animals and plants.Over the past decade there has been a diversification of methods for the detection and measurement of organometallic compounds. Generally, this has been accompanied by improvements in reliability of detection and measurement of organometal(loid)s at low

show abstract

Methylated bismuth in the environment

Cited by 40 publications

References 23 publications

Production of Volatile Derivatives of Metal(loid)s by Microflora Involved in Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge

Production of Volatile Derivatives of Metal(loid)s by Microflora Involved in Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge

Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth

Biomethylation of Arsenic, Antimony and Bismuth

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About