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Toxicity of Benzalkonium Chloride on Monoalgal Cultures and Natural Assemblages of Marine Phytoplankton

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Abstract

The current widespread use of benzalkonium chloride (BAC) in different cleaning and disinfecting products led us to investigate its potential toxic effect on phytoplankton. To this aim, different physiological variables were monitored to detect toxicity of four ecologically relevant concentrations of BAC (15–200 μg l−1) on batch cultures of the microalgae Isochrysis galbana and Chaetoceros gracilis, and on a coastal phytoplankton assemblage. Fluorescence variables measured by fast repetition rate fluorometry, specifically variable fluorescence (F v), were the most suitable to be used as endpoint among all the variables recorded (biomass, growth rate, size structure, and species composition). Calculated effective concentrations from F v data provided evidences of higher sensitivity in the natural assemblage at short exposure times (natural assemblage—EC50 [24 h] = 36.4 μg l−1 vs. monoalgae—EC50 [24 h] > 120 μg l−1). Despite these differences, standard monoalgal laboratory toxicity tests provided comparable estimates of safe concentrations for microalgae in the environment. Assessed EC10 fall within the range of BAC concentrations reported in the literature for different effluents.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Instituto Galego de Formación en Acuicultura (Galicia, Spain) for kindly providing the flagellate Isochrysis galbana, the diatom Chaetoceros gracilis, and seawater. We are greatly indebted to V. Pérez for her assistance on the sampling of the natural assemblage, to J. González for his help on FRRF measurements, and to J. Bellas for their fruitful comments during the elaboration of the manuscript. P. P. was supported by a fellowship from Xunta de Galicia (Spain). This study was partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Research Project REN2003-00958 MAR).

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  1. Laboratorio de Ecoloxía Mariña, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Facultade de Ciencias do Mar, Universidade de Vigo, Estda. Colexio universitario s/n, 36310, Vigo, Galicia, Spain

    Patricia Pérez, Emilio Fernández & Ricardo Beiras

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  1. Patricia Pérez
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  2. Emilio Fernández
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  3. Ricardo Beiras
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Correspondence to Patricia Pérez.

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Pérez, P., Fernández, E. & Beiras, R. Toxicity of Benzalkonium Chloride on Monoalgal Cultures and Natural Assemblages of Marine Phytoplankton. Water Air Soil Pollut 201, 319–330 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-008-9947-x

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