Abstract
Microalgae are the most abundant microorganisms in aquatic environments, and many possess the ability to remove organic contaminants. The presence of endocrine disruption compounds (EDCs) in many coastal marine systems and their associated risks have elicited great concern, especially in the case of nonylphenol (NP), which is classified as a priority contaminate by the U.S. EPA. In this context, batch experiments were conducted to investigate the intracellular absorption, extracellular adsorption and biodegradation of NP by four species of marine microalgae: Phaeocystis globosa, Nannochloropsis oculata, Dunaliella salina and Platymonas subcordiformis. The results showed a sharp reduction of NP in medium containing the four microalgal species during the first 24 h of incubation, and the four species exhibited the greatest capacity for NP adsorption and absorption within 24 h of culture. However, the amount of NP absorbed and adsorbed by all four microalgae decreased with increasing time in culture, and intracellular absorption was greater than extracellular adsorption. After 120 h of exposure to NP, the four species could biodegrade most of the NP in the medium, with efficiencies ranging from 43.43 to 90.94%. In sum, we found that the four microalgae have high biodegradation percentages and can thus improve the bioremediation of NP-contaminated water.
Highlights
Bioremediation technology allows the biological-specific decomposition of wastewater to provide complete degradation at low cost and without energy consumption, among other advantages[10]
Non-significant inhibition of the chlorophyll a (Chla) concentration was observed at 0.5 mg/L compared to the control (p > 0.05), and a significant inhibition of Chla concentration was observed at 1.0 mg/L compared to the control (p < 0.05)
96-h EC50 of NP for the four microalgae was in the order of P. subcordiformis > P. globosa > D. salina > N. oculata
Summary
Bioremediation technology allows the biological-specific decomposition of wastewater to provide complete degradation at low cost and without energy consumption, among other advantages[10]. The four microalgae examined in this study, Phaeocystis globosa, Nannochloropsis oculata, Dunaliella salina and Platymonas subcordiformis, are common and widely distributed species in aquatic ecosystems. Since these four microalgae are rarely used for NP degradation, the data from this study can be used to supplement knowledge related to NP treatment. The purpose of this work was to study (1) the toxic effect of NP on four marine algae—P. globosa, N. oculata, D. salina and P. subcordiformis—and to assess whether they are NP-tolerant species; (2) the capability of these four species to remove and biodegrade NP from NP-contaminated aquatic environments; and (3) the mechanisms underlying NP bioaccumulation, biodegradation and removal capability of these four microalgae
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