Differential response of green algal species to solvents

Abstract

Unicellular algae in aquatic ecosystems are subjected to a variety of pollutants from sources such as runoff from agricultural lands and industrial outfalls. Organic solvents are natural components of oil deposits and commonly find their way into surface waters as a result discharges from refineries, waste oil, disposal, and accidental spills. Organic solvents can make their way into the environment as industrial wastes. Because of their carcinogenic potential, contamination of soil and water by solvents is cause for serious concern. Relatively few reports have been published on the comparative toxicity of solvents toward test organisms, and these dealt primarily with fish and aquatic invertebrates. However, limited data of toxicity effects of solvents on algae have been published. Algae have been considered to be good indicators of bioactivity of industrial wastes. Unicellular algae vary in their response to a variety of toxicants. Little is known, however, about toxicity of solvents to freshwater unicellular green algae. The work reported here was done to examine the effect of selected solvents on unicellular green algae species to determine whether they differed in their responses to these chemicals. 14 refs., 1 fig.