Bioaccumulation and toxicity of phenanthrene applied to different freshwater algae

Phenanthrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon of medium lipophilicity (log K{sub ow} = 4.46) was chosen as a model compound for investigating mechanisms of bioaccumulation of hydrophobic chemicals in microalgae and relations between expressed toxicity and bioaccumulation. {sup 14}C labelled phenanthrene was used for easy quantification of its phase distribution. Results obtained with the green algae Selenastrum capricornutum and Scenedesmus armatus will be presented together with additional results from planned experiments with diatoms and cyanobacteria and interpreted considering cell size and lipid content of the different algae, For the same species bioconcentration factors (BCFs) were influenced to some extent by nutritional status and were slightly higher for unwashed cells than for washed cells. Much surprisingly, however, BCFs increased strongly with decreasing cell concentration. With chemostat grown nutrient deficient and washed Selenastrum cells, for example, the following BCF figures (mg phenanthrene/mg dry weight) were found: 3.8{center_dot}10{sup 4} 1.7{center_dot}10{sup 5} and 1.6{center_dot}10{sup 6}. Sorption of phenanthrene onto algae was rapid. Similar results have been reported in the literature for other compounds. The toxicity of phenanthrene increased with decreasing algal cell concentration probably as a result of increasing BCF`S. Toxicity experiments comprised both short term {sup 14}C assimilation assays and growth tests, and themore » phase distribution of phenanthrene was accounted for.« less