Algae, toxic effects

A slight toxic effect ( toxic defined as negative effects on health, growth, and reproduction) of the treated receiving water on the green alga Spiropyra species as a typical representative of the P-mesosaprobic zone was observed, when the test unit was subjected to the impact of 40 ppm secondary alkanesulfonates. 

Huang G, Bai Z, Dai S, Xie Q (1993) Accumulation and toxic effects of organometallic compounds on algae. Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 7 265-271. 

Algal blooms in fresh water ponds occasionally poison livestock and waterfowl. Axenic cultures of Anabaena flos-aquae NRC 44-1 were shown to produce the toxic principle (5) which can be present in the algae and in the water of mature cultures (6). The discovery of the toxin was fortuitous in the sense that AChR agonists do not have a (known) constructive function in the algae evolution of the synthetic pathway was likely a by-product of metabolic pathways in the algae. The compound became evident only through its toxic effects on other organisms. 

Fish are generally more susceptible to poisoning than microscopic plants or other animals as such they are a good indicator species. A summary of the concentrations of selected substances at which toxic effects have been detected in bacteria, algae, crustacia and protozoa is given in Table 16.14. 

As shown before in Section RLE., the toxic effects upon the freshwater alga, Pote-rioochromonas malhamensis, of the trimethyllead compound (Mc3 PbAc) was thirtyfold larger than that of the inorganic lead compound (PbClp)82. 

Veber, K., J. Zahradnik, I. Breyl, and F. Kredi. 1981. Toxic effect and accumulation of atrazine in algae. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 27 872-876. 

Jayaweera, R., R. Petersen, and P. Smejtek. 1982. Induced hydrogen ion transport in lipid membranes as origin of toxic effect of pentachlorophenol in an alga. Pestic. Biochem. Physiol. 18 197-204. 

Most commonly, bioassays for the evaluation of the acute toxic effects of pesticides are based on single aquatic species selected to be representative of a range of taxonomic and functional groups, i.e., bacteria, algae, invertebrates or fish [ 53,54]. Generally, toxicity evaluation using a single species is the alternative of choice rather than the use of multiple species, because extrapolation of effects to an ecosystem is more difficult and can often lead to incorrect conclusions. 

Fargasova, A. (1998). Accumulation and toxic effects of Cu2+, Cu+, Mn2+, VC>4, Ni2+ and M0O4- and their associations influence on respiratory rate and chlorophyll a content of the green alga Scenedesmus quadricauda, J. Trace Micro. Tech., 16, 481-490. 

Smock, L. A., Stoneburner, D. L. Clark, J. R. (1976). The toxic effects of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and its primary degradation products on two species of algae and the fathead minnow. Water Research, 10, 537—43. 

Roderer, G., 1983. Differential toxic effects of mercuric chloride and methylmercuric chloride on the freshwater alga Poterioochromonas malhamensis. Aqu. Toxicol., 3 23-34. 

Koukal, B., Gueguen, C., Pardos, M. and Dominik, J. (2003) Influence of humic substances on the toxic effects of cadmium and zinc to the green alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Chemosphere 53 (8), 953-961. 

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