Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the sensitivity of the freshwater green algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Desmodesmus subspicatus and Chlorella kessleri as well as duckweed Lemna minor to herbicides alachlor and metribuzin using conventional Erlenmeyer flask and miniaturized microplate algal growth inhibition assays. The results showed that alachlor was very toxic for alga Desmodesmus subspicatus, and extremely toxic for other investigated species, while metribuzin was extremely toxic for all test organisms. The ultrastructural changes observed by transmition electron microscopy confirmed the obtained toxicity results. Biodegradability test showed that these herbicides were not biodegradable – the rate of biodegradability was 43.3% for alachlor and 34.4% for metribuzin. The results indicate that battery test could be very useful in biomonitoring of area contaminated with these herbicides as well as for getting better insights in their toxicity, influence on environment and thereby in production of good quality food.

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