Bioaccumulation of metals and metalloids in soils and in the earthworm <i>Hyperiodrilus</i> <i>africanus</i> from uncontrolled landfills in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Marie-Madeleine O.  Akonga; Honoré M.  Mutwejile; René V.  Gizanga; Jean S.  Kayembe; Dieudonné E.  Musibono; Fernando P.  Carvalho; John  Poté; Emmanuel K.  Atibu

doi:10.59400/jts2115

Bioaccumulation of metals and metalloids in soils and in the earthworm Hyperiodrilus africanus from uncontrolled landfills in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Marie-Madeleine O. Akonga Department of Meteorology and Environment, Institute of Applied Technology, Kinshasa IV, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Honoré M. Mutwejile Department of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Oil, Gas and Renewable Energies, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of the Congo
René V. Gizanga Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of Congo
Jean S. Kayembe Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Dieudonné E. Musibono Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of Congo
Fernando P. Carvalho Instituto Superior Técnico/Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Universidade de Lisboa, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal
John Poté Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences and Institute of Environmental Sciences, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1211, Switzerland
Emmanuel K. Atibu Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa XI, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Article ID: 2115

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59400/jts2115

Keywords: uncontrolled landfills; toxic metals; Hyperiodrilus africanus; Igeo index; Kinshasa

Abstract

To better understand the ecological impact of pollutants from uncontrolled landfills and to assess the potential risks they pose to terrestrial ecosystems and public health, soil samples were collected from uncontrolled landfills in three municipalities of Kinshasa and analyzed for 17 metals and metalloids (including metals Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Co, Sn, Ni, Cd, Sc, Ag, Mo, and Hg, and metalloids Se, As, Sb) using ICP-MS and AAS. The following decreasing order of elemental concentrations was generally observed in soils: Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Co > Sn > Ni > Cd > Se > As > Sb > Sc > Ag > Mo > Hg. The Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) and the Enrichment Factor (EF) indicated very severe to extremely severe soil contamination by metals, with high enhancement of Cu, Zn, As, Ag, Cd, Sb, Pb, and Hg concentrations. Furthermore, several ecotoxicological indices, such as the Potential Ecological Risk Index (RI), highlighted serious soil pollution, particularly in the samples from the landfill receiving industrial waste at Limete municipality. Therefore, the use of these soils from uncontrolled landfills for fertilization of agricultural fields, as farmers currently do, poses a serious risk to public health. Concentrations of metals and metalloids were determined also in the earthworm Hyperiodrilus africanus, collected in the same areas, and the earthworm bioaccumulation factor (on a dry weight basis) displayed values greater than one in most samples and up to 15.3. This bioaccumulation of metals and metalloids from the soil suggests that earthworms can be used as a bioremediation agent for contaminated soils. Based on the results from this research, several recommendations are made to improve the pollution control and to protect public health.

Published

2025-05-06

How to Cite

Akonga, M.-M. O., Mutwejile, H. M., Gizanga, R. V., Kayembe, J. S., Musibono, D. E., Carvalho, F. P., Poté, J., & Atibu, E. K. (2025). Bioaccumulation of metals and metalloids in soils and in the earthworm Hyperiodrilus africanus from uncontrolled landfills in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Journal of Toxicological Studies, 3(1), 2115. https://doi.org/10.59400/jts2115

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Vol. 3 No. 1 (2025)

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Insecticides represent the most used control method against the insect pests of stored food products. But there are strains of insects which are resistant to these insecticides: it is the case of the beetle of the chickpea Callosobruchus maculatus . The present study has for objective the evaluation of the biological activity of chitinolytic enzymes extracted from the fish offals Scorpaena scrofa (scorpion fish) on this beetle at different doses (3%, 6%, 9%, 12%, 15% and 21%) prepared with the buffer solution. The results obtained from three treatments (T 1 , T 2 and T 3 ) realized according to the dose of the crude enzyme and the time of exposure were compared with those of the controls and have showed a very significant efficiency of our crude enzyme on the reduction of the fertility rate of 100% by treating the couple (T 1 ) at the same time as to treat the male (T 3 ) and the female (T 2 ) separately with the strongest dose (21%) for 48 h of exposure. It would be thus desirable to demonstrate the activity of these enzymes in the real conditions of storage.

Na + -K + -ATPase is a membrane bound enzyme responsible for the transport of ions through the membrane and immediate release of energy. This enzyme is known to be an early target for oxygen radical induced damage to intact cell. Exposure of C. punctatus to subacute concentrations of lindane for 96 h caused significant reduction in the activities of Na + -K + -ATPase in all the tissues of the fish tested; brain being maximally affected and the heart being least affected organ at the highest concentration of lindane (0.1 mg/L). The effect of pesticide was concentration dependent. The percent decrease in the activity of Na + -K + -ATPase in brain, gills, heart, kidney, liver and muscle was found to be 36.7, 23.4, 19.2, 29, 22.9 and 29.7, respectively. The order of level of enzyme activity recorded was as following: liver > gills > kidney > brain > muscle > heart in the control.

Due to the ubiquitous occurrence in the aquatic environment and terrestrial ecosystem and underlying eco-environmental risks, nano/microplastics (NPs/MPs) have sparked great public concerns. The purpose of this work is aimed to summarize the harmful influence of NPs/MPs on reproduction and offspring health and further explore the potential mechanisms of action, thereby facilitating the more comprehensive understanding of NPs/MPs features. Literature search databases included EMBASE, Web of Science, and PubMed. The study selection and data extraction were implemented according to the inclusion criteria. NPs/MPs could accumulate and trigger reproductive toxic responses and thereafter generate deleterious effects on the offspring health. Accordingly, the reproductive toxicity of NPs/MPs was characterized as the sperm deformity, decline in sperm count and motility, follicular growth tardiness, ovarian fibrosis, granulosa cell death, disorder of reproductive hormone secretion, as well as the fetal growth restriction, glycolipid metabolism disorder, and inflammatory responses of the next generation. Additionally, mechanism research revealed that NPs/MPs exposure brought about inflammatory responses and oxidative stress and thereafter, destroyed the blood-testis barrier (BTB) integrity, motivated spermatogenic cell apoptosis by activating the JNK and p38/MAPK-Nrf2/NF-κB pathways, and induced ovarian granulosa cell pyroptosis and apoptosis and subsequent ovarian fibrosis via the Wnt/β-Catenin and NLRP3/Caspase-1 pathways. Nevertheless, this work also highlighted the imperative requirements for scientific and systematic risk assessments of NPs/MPs, so as to identify the feasible risk mitigation strategies.