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Ecotoxicity of a mixture of nanoparticles on algal species Scendesmus obliquus in OECD growth media, wastewater, and pond water

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Abstract

The possible impact of ZnO and CuO nanoparticles (NPs) (individually and in binary mixture) was investigated using the freshwater microalgae, Scenedesmus obliquus. The present study shows the effect of nanoparticles on algae in OECD growth media, wastewater, and pond water during a 96-h toxicity test. At 0.1 mg/L concentration of the mixture of NPs, the reduction in the chlorophyll a content was 13.61 ± 1.34% (OECD media), 28.83 ± 1.85% (wastewater), and 31.81 ± 2.23% (pond water). Values of reduction in biomass were observed to be 42.13 ± 1.38, 39.96 ± 1.03, and 33.10 ± 1.29% for OECD media, wastewater, and pond water, respectively. The highest increase in lipid values was observed in the case of pond water (6.3 ± 1.31%). A significant increase in the value of EPS-generated protein was observed in the wastewater sample. EPS-generated carbohydrate values were increased in OECD media but decreased in the wastewater matrix. The transmission electron microscope images showed structural damage to algae cells due to the exposure to a mixture of nanoparticles at higher concentrations. Fourier transform infrared analysis showed an addition of bonds and differences in the peak and its intensity during exposure to high concentrations of NPs. Overall, this study gives fundamental insights into the interaction and toxicity of a mixture of NPs to algal species in different water matrices.

Highlights

  • Higher toxicity to S. obliquus due to ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in pond water than CuO NPs.

  • Order of toxicity (high to low): ZnO NPs alone> CuO NPs alone> ZnO+ CuO NPs.

  • Highest generation of EPS-generated protein in wastewater due to the mixture of NPs.

  • Less toxicity to algae in field water matrixes due to the OECD toxicity test 201 procedure.

  • The important role of water chemistry on the toxicity of a mixture of NPs to algae.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi (India) and experiments were performed in the Environmental Engineering Lab, IIT Delhi, and Central Research Facility, IIT Delhi (FTIR, TEM, and ICP-MS).

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  1. Graduate Student, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India

    Samridhi Rana

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India

    Arun Kumar

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  1. Samridhi Rana
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  2. Arun Kumar
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SR: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing-original draft, Data curation, Validation. AK: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Writing-review, and editing.

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Correspondence to Arun Kumar.

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Rana, S., Kumar, A. Ecotoxicity of a mixture of nanoparticles on algal species Scendesmus obliquus in OECD growth media, wastewater, and pond water. Ecotoxicology 32, 1257–1271 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-023-02718-8

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