Effect of silver nano-particles on soil microbial growth, activity and community diversity in a sandy loam soil

Silver nano-particles (AgNPs) are widely used in a range of consumer products as a result of their antimicrobial properties. Given the broad spectrum of uses, AgNPs have the potential for being released to the environment. As a result, environmental risks associated with AgNPs need to be assessed to aid in the development of regulatory guidelines. Research was performed to assess the effects of AgNPs on soil microbial activity and diversity in a sandy loam soil with an emphasis on using a battery of microbial tests involving multiple endpoints. The test soil was spiked with PVP coated (0.3%) AgNPs at the following concentrations of 49, 124, 287, 723 and 1815 mg Ag kg⁻¹ dry soil. Test controls included an un-amended soil; soil amended with PVP equivalent to the highest PVP concentration of the coated AgNP; and soil amended with humic acid, as 1.8% humic acid was used as a suspension agent for the AgNPs. The impact on soil microbial community was assessed using an array of tests including heterotrophic plate counting, microbial respiration, organic matter decomposition, soil enzyme activity, biological nitrification, community level physiological profiling (CLPP), Ion Torrent™ DNA sequencing and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). An impact on microbial growth, activity and community diversity was evident from 49 to 1815 mg kg⁻¹ with the median inhibitory concentrations (IC50) as low as 20–31 mg kg⁻¹ depending on the test. AgNP showed a notable impact on microbial functional and genomic diversity. Emergence of a silver tolerant bacterium was observed at AgNP concentrations of 49–287 mg kg⁻¹ after 14–28 days of incubation, but not detectable at 723 and 1815 mg kg⁻¹. The bacterium was identified as Rhodanobacter sp. The study highlighted the effectiveness of using multiple microbial endpoints for inclusion to the environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials.