Abstract
The phytoplankton species Chlorella stigmatophora was used to monitor the effect of lead (as lead chloride). In order to standardise the toxicity assay, initial low concentrations of algae were used during optimal supply with nutrients, to avoid the problem of light shading.
The growth rates of control algae were compared during 3–4 doubling periods with those exposed to 98-980nM lead. Since heavy metals may influence enzymic activities, e.g. of selenium-containing glutathione peroxidase by precipitating selenium as selenium selenide, the growth rate was compared with the specific glutathione peroxidase activity.
Our data demonstrate that it is possible to monitor for lead toxicity (and other heavy metal toxicity) both by decrease in growth rate and by inhibition of enzymic activity. Since cultivation of unicellular algae is relatively simple, it should be possible to use such systems for ecotoxicological screening.
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