Effects of pharmaceutical wastes on growth of microalgae

The purpose of this work was to assay samples of waste material from Puerto Rican pharmaceutical industries for inhibition of growth of algae. Two samples (noted as I and II) supplied to us were tested for toxicity to six microalgae. The test organisms, two blue-green algae, two green algae, and two diatoms [r]epresent three major divisions of algae.University of Texas Marine Science InstituteMarine Scienc

Biodegradation of aromatic compounds by high latitude phytoplankton

"It was the purpose of the work undertaken to bring into pure culture representative diatoms from the Cook Inlet and the ice-edge in the Bering Sea and to examine their capacity for the oxidation of aromatic compounds using naphthalene as a model substrate. Three diatoms from the Cook Inlet (Kasitsna Bay) were shown to metabolize naphthalene at 6 or 12°C to 1-naphthol and other unidentified ethyl acetate and water-soluble products. Likewise, three diatoms isolated from samples collected at the ice-edge in the Bering Sea also formed small amounts of 1-naphthol from naphthalene when incubated in the light at 0 or 10°C. We have not been able to rigorously prove that any algal cell, be it a blue-green alga, a green alga, or a diatom can metabolize (1-¹⁴C) naphthalene far enough to produce ¹⁴CO₂. However, if we assume a stoichiometery of one 1-naphthol in the algae equivalent to one CO₂ in bacteria, then for mesophilic algae, the rate of 1-naphthol production is roughly estimated as 10% of the in situ marine potential, and perhaps higher if only the photic zone is considered. We have as yet, no corresponding values for rate of 1-naphthol formation from naphthalene by cold-adapted or psychrophilic diatom cultures, however, it seems reasonable to suggest that algal aromatic transformations may also be a significant fraction of bacterial activity in cold environments. In addition to studies on the oxidation of naphthalene we have also examined the sensitivity of the Bering Sea psychrophilic diatoms to crude oil samples from Cook Inlet and Prudhoe Bay. The results with pure cultures indicate that the toxicity of crude oil was enhanced in psychrophilic diatoms growing at O°C or 10°C as compared to previous studies with mesophilic forms. There are several important consequences of the results for Alaskan OCS oil and gas development. It is now clear that pure cultures of diatoms isolated from either the lower Cook Inlet or from the ice-edge in the Bering Sea can oxidize aromatic compounds such as naphthalene. Whether the metabolites persist through the food chain and will be more or less toxic than naphthalene itself is not known. The results with naphthalene also imply that the photic zone can be an important sink for aromatic hydrocarbon transformations. There are certainly differences among microalgae in the capacity to oxidize naphthalene. It seems prudent, therefore, to insure, via monitoring, that accidental introduction of aromatic compounds in Alaskan waters does not cause a selective or enrichment effect on existing phytoplankton populations. A second area of environmental concern is the suggestion of an enhanced crude oil toxicity in slower growing psychrophilic diatoms as compared to their mesophilic cousins. Crude oil spills near or under the sea ice may severely impact primary productivity, and thereby higher tropic level.Final report RD/MPF24-Effects-675April 30, 1982Marine Scienc

Final report : NOAA Puerto Rico pharmaceutical wastes, January 11, 1980

Individual pharmaceutical wastes from operations in Puerto Rico were examined for toxicity towards representative types of microalgae.University of Texas Marine Science InstituteMarine Scienc

NOAA Puerto Rico pharmaceutical wastes : final report

The proposed work included a re-test of individual pharmaceutical wastes from Puerto Rico to see if the pattern of algal toxicity found in the studies in 1979 would repeat in a new set of samples collected in 1980. In addition, Bristol waste, highly toxic in the 1979 and again in the 1980 algal bioassays, was subjected to purging or exposure to sunlight to gauge if toxicity was perhaps volatile or photosensitive. Bristol and Upjohn (the second most toxic waste) wastes were also examined for any immediate effects on photosynthesis with organism PR-6. Six of the individual wastes were also mixed in approximately the same proportions as they occurred in a composite waste, and bioassayed with the marine blue-green alga, PR-6, to ascertain the waste or wastes contributing the most algal toxicity to composite samples.Marine Scienc