The Effects of Triclosan on Physiological and Photosynthetic Characteristics of Chlorella vulgaris

Zhineng Dai,Haiyan Fu,Aili Yang,Xing Luo,Yicheng Wu,Jinsong Wang

doi:10.3390/w13101355

Abstract

Triclosan has been widely used as addition ingredient in personal care and medical antibacterial products, and the increasing amounts of triclosan discharged in aquatic environments pose a potential risk to aquatic ecological systems. In this study, we investigated the effects of exposure to varying triclosan concentrations on the growth, chlorophyll fluorescence and antioxidant enzyme activity of Chlorella vulgaris. The results showed that low-concentration triclosan (<0.75 mg/L) can stimulate the growth of Chlorella vulgaris, whereas 1.05 mg/L triclosan exhibited significant inhibition. Low-concentration triclosan (<0.75 mg/L) could improve the tolerance and utilization ability of Chlorella vulgaris in relation to strong light. We observed a significant increase in the malondialdehyde content of Chlorella vulgaris exposed to 1.05 mg/L triclosan. The intracellular superoxide dismutase and catalase (CAT) activities of Chlorella vulgaris exposed to triclosan were higher than the control groups, and the increase in this activity was positively correlated with the concentration of triclosan. The results also showed that excessive H2O2 may in turn damage the CAT structure and eventually inactivate CAT activity when Chlorella vulgaris is exposed to 1.05 mg/L triclosan. This study provided a theoretical basis which can be used to evaluate the ecological risk of triclosan in the aquatic environment.

Highlights

Triclosan is a common synthetic antibacterial agent that has been used as raw material in more than 700 different industrial and pharmaceutical products [1,2,3]
1220 tons of triclosan were added into personal care products in China alone in 2012 [4], and at least 350 tons of triclosan are consumed as antimicrobial agents every year in Europe [3]
We detected that the triclosan concentration in water bodies surrounding a pharmaceutical production factory using triclosan as a raw material reached 0.53 mg/L

Summary

Introduction

Triclosan is a common synthetic antibacterial agent that has been used as raw material in more than 700 different industrial and pharmaceutical products [1,2,3]. 1220 tons of triclosan were added into personal care products in China alone in 2012 [4], and at least 350 tons of triclosan are consumed as antimicrobial agents every year in Europe [3]. It was widely detected in surface water [5,6,7,8], groundwater [9], sediment [10,11,12] and even in drinking water [13,14] due to its extensive usage, stable chemical structure and intense antimicrobial effect [4]. The presence of triclosan in the aquatic ecosystem will affect the structure and function of seaweed organisms, and affect the nutrient processing ability of the ecosystem and the structure of the natural food chain

Methods

Results

Conclusion