The Biotoxicity And Bioaccumulation Of Chlorinated Flame Retardants Dechlorane Plus On Marine Algae

As a class of chlorinated flame retardants, Dechlorane Plus (DP) is widely used in materials manufacture. With DP was detected in seawater, sediment and fish samples, the impacts of DP on the marine environment are drawing both international and local researchers'wide attentions. However, the toxicology data of DP was only reported by Oxychem (the DP manufacturer in USA), and the potential toxicity effects on marine algae have not been reported yet. Marine algae are primary producers in marine ecosystem, and they are the best bioindicator to monitor marine environment. In order to evaluate the potential toxicity effects and bioaccumulation on marine algae, we used two kinds of marine algae (Chlorella vulgaris and Ulva pertusa) for our research. Main research results show as follows:â… .Because of the poorly solubility in the water, We had three kinds of DP exposure methods:(i)DP solution used acetone as the solvent;(ii)directly exposure;(iii)the suspension of DP. No significant growth inhibition of Chlorella vulgaris was determined in three methods of DP exposure. NOEC>100mg/L. The suspension of DP is the best method of DP toxicity research.â…¡. The suspension of DP exposure produced oxidative damage to Chlorella vulgaris. The activity of antioxidant enzyme SOD increased significantly, and the lipid peroxide product MDA remarkably increased. The chlorophyll a contents and the utilization efficiency of inorganic carbon had decreased, but the expression of gene rbcL had increased significantly, suggested that the suspension of DP exposure could affect the photosynthesis system in algae.â…¢. With the suspension of DP exposure, the growth of Ulva pertusa decreased in treatment groups compared to controls. The bioaccumulation of DP by Ulva pertusa was observed.â…£.DP was determined at 6 sampling sites near the Dalian seashore area in 2010, and DP was detected in all of the water, sediment and Ulva pertusa samples. The fsyn for Ulva pertusa (0.25) was lower than that of the Chinese commercial product (0.41).Our results suggested that DP showed low toxicity to marine algae. No significant growth inhibition of Chlorella vulgaris was determined, but DP exposure could produce oxidative damage and affect on algae photosynthesis system. SOD, MDA and the utilization efficiency of inorganic carbon could be used as sensitive biomarkers in the DP stress test. DP exposure could inhibit the growth of Ulva pertusa, and the bioaccumulation of DP in Ulva pertusa had been observed.