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Bioremediation approach using charophytes—preliminary laboratory and field studies of mine drainage water from the Mansfeld Region, Germany

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Abstract

Mine drainage water from the Schlenze stream, Mansfeld Region, Central Germany, which have shown an increase in heavy metal concentrations of Cd2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, and Zn2+, was used to investigate the bioremediation potential of charophytes. The removal of heavy metals by Chara subspinosa from the water was tested in single- and multi-metal additions. The uptake capacity of C. subspinosa decreased during the course of the experiment and was higher in single-metal addition than in multi-metal addition of Pb2+, Zn2+, and Cd2+. Accumulation of heavy metals in the carbonate encrustation of charophytes was far lower than those to which they were exposed. Cu, Cd, Pb, and Zn co-precipitated more in the encrustation of C. subspinosa exposed to single-metal approach than to multi-metal approach. The carbonate composition of charophytes was influenced by the water chemistry. Content of Na in the carbonate encrustation correlated with the Na+ concentration of the respective water. The toxic effect of heavy metals on photosynthesis was species-specific. Electron transport rates (ETRmax) were higher in Chara tomentosa than in C. subspinosa. Charophytes withstand the heavy metal concentrations when diluted with river water from the Altarm cut-off lake and can therefore be used for the bioremediation of diluted mine drainage waters by co-precipitating Cd, Cu, and Zn.

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Abbreviations

A:

Altarm

H1:

Asche

H2:

Lake Lützlow

HM:

Heavy metal

ICP-OES:

Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry

PAM:

Pulse amplitude modulation

ETR:

Electron transport rate

S:

Schlüsselstollen

Sa:

Saale above

Sb:

Saale below discharge into the Saale

SD:

Standard deviation

TP:

Total phosphorus

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Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank M. Nickel and V. Hoang for their support in the laboratory, and C. Porsche for advice regarding the statistical treatment of the data.

Funding

A. Herbst was supported by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) and the University of Rostock (Women Professors Programme II), which is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biosciences, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Straße 3, 18059, Rostock, Germany

    Anne Herbst & Hendrik Schubert

  2. Central Laboratory for Water Analytics and Chemometrics, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Brückstraße 3a, 39114, Magdeburg, Germany

    Leila Patzelt, Stefanie Schoebe & Wolf von Tümpling

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  1. Anne Herbst
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  2. Leila Patzelt
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  3. Stefanie Schoebe
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Correspondence to Anne Herbst.

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Responsible editor: Elena Maestri

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Appendix

Appendix

Table 5 Investigated sampling sites with coordinates. Sites are abbreviated as Asche (H1), Lake Lützlow (H2), Altarm (A), Saaleabove (Sa), Saalebelow (Sb), and Schlüsselstollen (S)
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Herbst, A., Patzelt, L., Schoebe, S. et al. Bioremediation approach using charophytes—preliminary laboratory and field studies of mine drainage water from the Mansfeld Region, Germany. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 34983–34992 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06552-6

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