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Comparison of Sensitivity of Tropical Freshwater Microalgae to Environmentally Relevant Concentrations of Cadmium and Hexavalent Chromium in Three Types of Growth Media

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Abstract

Sensitivity of tropical freshwater microalgae (Mesotaenium sp., Chlorococcum sp. and Scenedesmus sp.) to environmentally relevant concentrations of hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) and cadmium (Cd2+) was compared individually in three growth media viz. Bold’s Basal Medium (BBM), Test Medium 1 (TM1) and Test Medium 2 (TM2) based on fluorescence reduction. Free metal content of growth media was determined by Visual MINTEQ (version 3.1). After 24 h, relative fluorescence of microalgae in the three media decreased with increased metal concentration showing a concentration dependent graded toxicity response. All microalgae were more sensitive to the metals when grown in TM1, when compared, more sensitive to Cr6+ than Cd2+. Metal speciation indicated that TM1 and TM2 media have higher percentage of bioavailable Cd2+ than BBM, and chromium was present mainly as CrO42− and HCrO4−. The results suggest that the TM1 medium is more suitable under short term exposure of microalgae to metals in environmental monitoring.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided by the National Research Council of Sri Lanka (Research Grant No. 12–092). Metal analysis was conducted using the atomic absorption spectrometer granted by the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (Equipment Grant RG/2011/EQ/16).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, GQ, 11600, Sri Lanka

    Thilini Munagamage & I. V. N. Rathnayake

  2. Department of Zoology and Environmental Management, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, GQ, 11600, Sri Lanka

    A. Pathiratne

  3. Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), Faculty of Science and Information Technology, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, ATC Building, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Mallavarapu Megharaj

Authors
  1. Thilini Munagamage
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  2. I. V. N. Rathnayake
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  3. A. Pathiratne
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  4. Mallavarapu Megharaj
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to I. V. N. Rathnayake.

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Munagamage, T., Rathnayake, I.V.N., Pathiratne, A. et al. Comparison of Sensitivity of Tropical Freshwater Microalgae to Environmentally Relevant Concentrations of Cadmium and Hexavalent Chromium in Three Types of Growth Media. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 105, 397–404 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-02950-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-02950-6

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