Sensitivity of green and blue-green algae to methyl tert-butyl ether.
The toxicity of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) to Chlorella ellipsoidea and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae was tested and assessed for a 15-d incubation with concentrations of MTBE from high (2.00 x 10(4) mg/L) to low (2 mg/L). The results showed that the toxicity was low when the concentration of MTBE was in the range 1.00 x 10(4) - 2.00 x 10(4) mg/L (the greatest inhibition of growth-rate was 70%-71%, occurred during the day 1-5). Low concentrations (2-500 mg/L) stimulated algal growth up to the greatest effect of 85%-200% when the concentration of MTBE was 50-100 mg/L during day 3-5. The toxicity of MTBE (72-120 h EC50) was 6.65 x 10(3) - 9.58 x 10(3) mg/L for C. ellipsoidea and that is 1.14 x 10(4) - 2.00 x 10(4) mg/L for A. floc-aquae. We found that the toxicity and ecological risk of MTBE for the algal community structure were low and the toxicity was influenced by the duration time of the test.
Chen
Jianmeng
J
College of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China. jchen@zjut.edu.cn
Ma
Jianyi
J
Cao
Wei
W
Wang
Pinwei
P
Tong
Senmiao
S
Sun
Yizhao
Y
D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000187:drug effects*; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D004249:DNA Damage; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008738:Methyl Ethers / Q000633:toxicity*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
D008738:Methyl Ethers; C043243:methyl tert-butyl ether