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Water polluted with glyphosate formulations: effectiveness of a decontamination process using Chlorella vulgaris growing as bioindicator

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Abstract

The environmental pollution caused by pesticides is considered a major problem worldwide. Glyphosate is one of the herbicides most widely used, and its use has increased sharply in the last years. In this work, the toxicity of four commercial glyphosate formulations (Eskoba®, Panzer Gold®, Roundup Ultramax® and Sulfosato Touchdown®) was assessed by determining the median effective concentration at 96 h (96 h-EC50) using the microalga Chlorella vulgaris as the biological model. Although the formulations tested are moderately to slightly toxic to C. vulgaris according to the World Health Organization’s toxicity categories for aquatic and terrestrial organisms, this research shows that the four formulations are toxic, with Eskoba® the least toxic and Roundup Ultramax® the most toxic one. A UV/H2O2 remediation process for the detoxification of the samples was tested also. Its effectiveness was evaluated using a C. vulgaris growth inhibition test. Growth inhibition of C. vulgaris did not reach 18.2 %, indicating the efficacy of the UV/H2O2 remediation process to reduce glyphosate toxicity. In some of the samples tested within the first 48 h of the assay, C. vulgaris growth was even increased. The results of the present work suggest that the selected species was a good indicator to determine the toxicity level of glyphosate formulations and shows the relevance of the ecotoxicological tests to evaluate a physicochemical remediation process.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the University Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Projects CAI + D Orientado No.: 1.6 and CAI + D N°: 501 201101 00215 LI. We would like to thank to Margarita Herman for the English language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral (FHUC-UNL). Ciudad Universitaria, CP3000, Santa Fe, Argentina

    Ulises Reno, Luciana Regaldo & Ana María Gagneten

  2. INTEC (UNL-CONICET), Pje. El Pozo, (3000), Santa Fe, Argentina

    Eduardo Vidal, Melisa Mariani & Cristina Zalazar

  3. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, FHUC-UNL, CP3000, Santa Fe, Argentina

    Eduardo Vidal

  4. Departamento de Medio Ambiente, FICH-UNL, CP3000, Santa Fe, Argentina

    Cristina Zalazar

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  1. Ulises Reno
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Correspondence to Ana María Gagneten.

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Reno, U., Regaldo, L., Vidal, E. et al. Water polluted with glyphosate formulations: effectiveness of a decontamination process using Chlorella vulgaris growing as bioindicator. J Appl Phycol 28, 2279–2286 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0755-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0755-6

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