Estimation of the influence of deicing materials influence on single-cell organisms: a case study of Tetrahymena pyriformis

Abstract

Introduction. Deicing materials (DIM) have technical recommendations for the application to ensure road safety. However, they do not have shared values governing their permissible levels for environmental objects and public health. There are no guidelines for assessing their toxic properties either. The research shows that to solve practical goals, it is necessary to scientifically substantiate the methodology of hygienic assessment of DIMs as a separate group of substances, taking into account their effective concentrations bio testing methods. DIM are saline solutions, and therefore it is worth considering a cell or a unicellular organism as a model to predict their effect on biological objects. However, the methodology for assessing environmental objects’ toxicity using Tetrahymena pyriformis ciliates has been approved only for domestic water supply. The purpose of this study is to update the methodology for determining the toxicity of DIM solutions by the generative function of Tetrahymena pyriformis ciliates. It considers the high salt content appropriate within the framework of a comprehensive hygienic assessment of reagents. Materials and methods. The research made an ecotoxicological assessment of 2 deicing materials with different ratios of chlorides of alkali and alkaline-earth metals and evaluating the same reagents’ actual chemical composition using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ion chromatography. Results. The obtained data indicated less pronounced toxicity of DIM with increased content of calcium ions. The permissible levels of DIM influence on the studied test object have been determined. A control comparison sample is provided. Conclusion. The obtained results specify the need to expand the list of controlled indices in the existing methodology. To assess the toxicity of saline solutions using ciliates, the substantial additions must include studying the morphology of cells in the acute experiment (6 hours), in case of their death within the first hour; it is necessary to control their secondary appearance.