title: Removal of cyanobacteria and microcystin by natural plant-mineral combinations in eutrophic waters.
abstract: The removal or mitigation of cyanobacterial bloom and cyanotoxins is a necessity to ensure safe drinking water and recreational water. As a feasible agent to control cyanobacterial bloom, a novel plant-mineral composite (PMC) was developed and optimized through laboratory and field testing over the past 3 years. Based on previous studies, we treated cyanobacterial bloom water (mainly Microcystis and Synechocystis) with 0.05 mg/L PMC at the small eutrophic reservoir; 2 h later, we collected samples and analyzed them in the laboratory. The intra-cellular (c-MC) and dissolved microcystin-LR (d-MC) were measured using an ELISA method. The PMC exhibited a remarkable removal of both c-MC (47.3 %) and d-MC (95.8 %) within 2 days. In addition, notable decreases (on average, 78 % of the control) in the chlorophyll-a, suspended solids, total phosphorus and biochemical oxygen demand values, in zooplankton and in the phytoplankton density (83.9 %) were verified after 48 h. These results indicate that the PMC is more effective in controlling d-MC than c-MC, suggesting a possible method to mitigate such hazardous chemicals as agrochemicals and endocrine disrupters in aquatic ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Hanyang University, Seoul, 133-791, South Korea. tigerk@hanyang.ac.kr
authors.forename: Baik-Ho
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ju-Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Soon-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005068:Eutrophication; D052998:Microcystins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008903:Minerals / Q000378:metabolism*; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000378:metabolism*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D052998:Microcystins; D008903:Minerals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical