Death by indigestion? Particle binding of contaminants by algae and dietary uptake by Daphnia
- Univ. of Stirling (United Kingdom). Inst. of Aquaculture
- Univ. de Coimbra (Portugal). Inst. do Ambiente e Vida
Freshwater algae, as with all suspended particulate matter in the water column, exhibit a net negative charge, which results in an affinity for positively charged species, such as toxic metal cations. Such cations will readily adsorb to algal cell surfaces, particularly at low metal concentrations. Work conducted to date, with cadmium and cells of the green algae Chlorella vulgaris, has shown that there are two contrasting effects produced by the particulate adsorption of cadmium on the toxicity of the metal to Daphnia. At sub-lethal concentrations of cadmium, the ingestion of algal cells by Daphnia is inhibited, resulting in reduced growth and reproduction. Experiments comparing the effect of algal bound and free ionic forms of cadmium demonstrate that this inhibition is almost entirely due to the surface bound fraction. However, at free cadmium concentrations that are lethal to Daphnia, algal cells were found to reduce toxicity. Further studies using slow-motion video analysis of tethered animals have confirmed this, by showing that algal-bound cadmium produces a more rapid and severe feeding inhibition response than free cadmium. These results raise several questions for ecotoxicology. Does the contrasting role of algal cells in increasing toxicity at sub-lethal levels, while reducing toxicity at lethal levels call into question the common assumption that a mechanistic link exists between acute and chronic toxicity? How can this phenomenon be controlled in laboratory experiments? How will the surface binding of contaminants in the field affect the extrapolation of laboratory results to the natural environment?
- OSTI ID:
- 372507
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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