Change of soil bacterial communities in chemically stabilized chromium contaminated soils in an accelerated aging experiment

Chemical stabilization is a common strategy to clean Cr(VI) contaminated soils. Although many studies have reported both short-term and long-term performance of chemical stabilization, there is no work addressing the impacts of long-term Cr stability on soil bacterial communities after stabilization. In this study, an accelerated aging system that synchronized simulation acid rain leaching and freeze-thaw cycles was established for the first time. We investigated the change of Cr content, environmental variables and bacterial community structure after chemical stabilization by 50-year acid rain leaching and freeze-thaw cycle simulation. Chemical stabilization effectively decreased the content of soil Cr(VI), total Cr in leachate and Cr(VI) in leachate. Different aging conditions altered soil Cr(VI), total Cr in leachate and Cr(VI) in leachate to different extents, hinting at distinct mechanisms of long-term Cr instability between acid rain leaching and freeze-thaw cycle. Cr(VI) and chemical stabilization were identified as the most influential factors affecting soil bacterial community structure, and acid rain leaching and freeze-thaw cycle exhibited considerable but distinct impacts. Our findings provided deeper insights into the long-term restoration of bacterial community in chemically stabilized Cr(VI) contaminated soil and the long-term risk assessment of contaminated soil remediation.