Using a freshwater green alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa to evaluate the biotoxicity of ionic liquids with different cations and anions.

Abstract With the extensive use of ionic liquids (ILs) in various industrial fields, their potential toxicity to aquatic ecosystem has attracted considerable attention. In this work, biotoxicity of ILs with different cations and anions was evaluated by using a freshwater green alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Results showed that 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C4mim]Cl), 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C8mim]Cl), 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium nitrate ([C8mim]NO3), 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C8mim]BF4), and 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C12mim]Cl) had a significant inhibition on the algal growth with EC50 values of 23.48, 4.72, 3.80, 4.44, and 0.10 mg L−1 at the 72 h of exposure, respectively. These data suggested that the toxicity of ILs increased with the increase of side alkyl chain length, while anions had little influences on their toxicity to this alga. Moreover, changes in chlorophyll a content and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (Fv/Fm and ΦPSII) indicated that the five ILs could damage the photosynthetic system of this alga resulting in the decrease of photosynthetic efficiency. The increased soluble protein content and antioxidase activity could be considered as an active response mechanism of this alga against the exposure of ILs. Content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in this alga increased significantly when it was exposed to ILs, suggesting that reactive oxygen species (ROS) were accumulated in the algal cells, which would cause injury of the algal biofilm and chloroplast. Therefore, results obtained in this work would help to explain the possible underlying toxic mechanisms of ILs to C. pyrenoidosa, and provide a significant theoretical support for assessing the toxicity of ILs to aquatic organisms.