Effect of metals on microcystin abundance and environmental fate

Abstract

Metals can react with microcystin (MC), which is released from cyanobacterial blooms through various mechanisms; these reactions may mitigate the environmental and health risks of MCs but may also cause harm to aquatic ecosystems and humans. Several studies were conducted, including laboratory tests, ecological simulations, and a field investigation of Poyang Lake. The laboratory studies showed that Fe3+, Cu2+, and Pb2+ stimulated MC photodegradation under high light intensity at the water–sediment interface, which reduced the MC accumulation in the sediment. In the laboratory studies involving the addition of metal ions to lake sediment containing adsorbed MC, MC biodegradation was inhibited by supplementing with high levels of Fe3+, Cu2+, or Pb2+. Fe3+ and Pb2+ promoted MC accumulation in the hydrophyte Eichhornia crassipes at relatively low concentrations, but this effect decreased with increasing high metal concentrations. An ecological survey in Poyang Lake during the dry season demonstrated that high Fe levels can reduce MC accumulation in the sediment, which could be the result of Fe-mediated photodegradation. The results indicate that metals involved in MC transportation and degradation may play an important role in the environmental fate of MC.