title: The accumulation and potential ecological risk of heavy metals in microalgae from a eutrophic lake (Taihu Lake, China).
abstract: This study aimed to evaluate the bioaccumulation and enrichment of heavy metals in dominant microalgae and assess the potential ecological risk to the microalgae located at the northern region of Taihu Lake, China, a shallow freshwater lake. The concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in water and microalgae (predominant cyanophyta) collected from the north of Taihu Lake were analyzed. Subsequently, enrichment factors (EF) for heavy metals in microalgae relative to water were calculated. The concentrations and EF values of heavy metals were significantly higher in water and microalgae from the northern region compared with other regions for all the metals except As and Hg. Among the metals, Pb and Cd possessed higher enrichment levels, approx. 200 and 400 for Pb and Cd, respectively. This suggested that Pb and Cd had stronger chemisorption on microalgae, even though present at lower concentrations. Moreover, Ni and Zn in microalgae from the north of the lake also exhibited risk to the ecosystem owing to their high concentrations. In general, the microalgae tended to enrich Pb, Cd, Ni, and Zn by biosorption and bioaccumulation and thus exert a risk to the ecosystem and human populations.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, 210044, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, 210044, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.|State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hezhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People's Republic of China. efliu@niglas.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Enfeng
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D058086:Microalgae / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012306:Risk; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bioaccumulation; Ecological risk assessment; Heavy metals; Microalgae; Taihu Lake