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Effect of butyl paraben on the development and microbial composition of periphyton

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Abstract

Parabens are extensively used as preservatives and bactericides in personal care and other consumer products, and are commonly found in wastewater and surface water as contaminants. However, few data are currently available on the ecotoxicity of parabens. Periphyton biofilm, a widely distributed microbial aggregate of ecological importance in aquatic environment, is frequently used for water quality monitoring, ecological restoration, and toxicity assessment. In this work, the effects of butyl paraben on the development and microbial composition of periphyton biofilm was studied in a laboratory experiment for 32 days using flow through channels. No effect was observed at the environmental relevant concentration level (0.5 μg L−1) during the experiment. At the highest tested concentration level (5000 μg L−1), following effects were noted: (1) inhibition on algae growth at the end of the experiment as indicated by the chlorophyll a and total biovolume; (2) inhibition of photosynthetic efficiency on day 24 as suggested by the maximal Photosystem II quantum yield (Fv/Fm); (3) decrease of the algal diversity on day 24 and 32 as reflected by the Pielou and Shannon-Weiner indices. Bacteria were less sensitive than algae in the periphyton biofilm, which showed no difference at all tested concentration levels as illustrated by the Biolog EcoPlates™ analysis. Therefore, we conclude that environmental residues of butyl paraben have a very low risk to periphyton in aquatic ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41103064) and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y35E03). Dr. Chenxi Wu would like to acknowledge the support from the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 7 Donghu South Road, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Chaofeng Song, Juan Lin, Xiaolong Huang, Jiantong Liu & Chenxi Wu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Yonghong Wu

  3. Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Chaofeng Song, Juan Lin & Xiaolong Huang

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  1. Chaofeng Song
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  2. Juan Lin
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  3. Xiaolong Huang
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  4. Yonghong Wu
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Correspondence to Chenxi Wu.

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Song, C., Lin, J., Huang, X. et al. Effect of butyl paraben on the development and microbial composition of periphyton. Ecotoxicology 25, 342–349 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-015-1592-8

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