Co-toxicity and co-contamination remediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals: Research progress and future perspectives

The combined pollution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals (HMs) has attracted wide attention due to their high toxicity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity and teratogenicity. A thorough understanding of the progress of the relevant studies about their co-toxicity and co-contamination remediation is of great importance to prevent environmental risk and develop new efficient remediation methods. This paper summarized the factors resulting in different co-toxic effects, the interaction mechanism influencing co-toxicity and the development of remediation technologies for the co-contamination. Also, the inadequacies of the previous studies related to the co-toxic effect and the remediation methods were pointed out, while the corresponding solutions were proposed. The specific type and concentration of PAHs and HMs, the specific type of their action object and environmental factors could affect their co-toxicity by influencing each other's transmembrane process, detoxification process and increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and some other mechanisms that need to be further studied. The specific action mechanisms of the concentration, environmental factors and the specific type of PAHs and HMs, their effect on each other's transmembrane processes, investigations at the cellular and molecular levels, non-targeted metabolomics analysis, as well as long-term ecological effects were proposed to be further explored in order to obtain more information about the co-toxicity. The combination of two or more methods, especially combining bioremediation with other methods, is a potential development field for the remediation of co-contamination. It can make full use of the advantages of each remediation method, to achieve an increase of remediation efficiency and a decrease of both remediation cost and ecological risk. This review intends to further improve the understanding on co-toxicity and provide references for the development and innovation of remediation technologies for the co-contamination of PAHs and HMs. © 2024 Elsevier Inc.