About possibility of alga Spirulina application for phytoremediation of water polluted with 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene

Abstract

Abstract The aim of presented work is to estimate remediation potential of the blue-green alga Spirulina (Spirulina platensis), in particular, its ability to uptake 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) that is one of the most widely used military high explosive and a dangerous pollutant of the environment. The obtained results show that Spirulina has high ability to adsorb TNT, and the uptake of TNT and/or its metabolites by Spirulina carried out via adsorption on surface of cellular hydrocarbons coat and then by their moving into vacuoles. The model experiments for testing the feasibility of the alga-based approach of phytoremediation technology were performed in reservoir with a volume of 40 L, with permanent air barbotage and illumination, at temperature 25C. The results of experiments indicate that Spirulina uptakes about 87% of toxicant from water polluted with 22.5 ppm TNT during 15 days, and its biomass accumulation decreases only by 38% compared to the reference variant, where the algae was cultivated in an uncontaminated medium. The results of model experiments signify that application of Spirulina Platensis as phytoremediator is an efficient tool for cleaning TNT-polluted water.