1 Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University , Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1M8.
2 Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia , Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z3.
3 Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University , Jinan, China 250100.
4 Canadian Light Source, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 2 V3.

Insights into the Toxicity of Triclosan to Green Microalga Chlorococcum sp. Using Synchrotron-Based Fourier Transform Infrared Spectromicroscopy: Biophysiological Analyses and Roles of Environmental Factors.

Environ Sci Technol. 2018 02 20;52(4):2295-2306

Authors: Xin X, Huang G, An C, Huang C, Weger H, Zhao S, Zhou Y, Rosendahl S

Abstract

This study investigated the toxicity of triclosan to the green microalga Chlorococcum sp. under multiple environmental stressors. The interactions between triclosan and environmental stressors were explored through full two-way factorial, synchrotron-based Fourier transform infrared spectromicroscopy and principal component analyses. Phosphorus concentration, pH * phosphorus concentration, and temperature * pH * NaCl concentration were the most statistically significant factors under triclosan exposure. The variation of those factors would have a huge impact on biophysiological performances. It is interesting to find Chlorococcum sp. may become more resistant against triclosan in phosphorus-enriched environment. Besides, particular significant factors from multiple environmental stressors showed the impacts of triclosan on the corresponding response of Chlorococcum sp. owing to the specific structure and performance of biomolecular components. Moreover, two high-order interactions of temperature * pH * NaCl concentration and temperature * pH * NaCl concentration * phosphorus concentration had more contributions than others at the subcellular level, which could be attributed to the interactive complexity of biomolecular components. Due to cellular self-regulation mechanism and short exposure time, the biophysiological changes of Chlorococcum sp. were undramatic. These findings can help reveal the interactive complexity among triclosan and multiple environmental stressors. It is suggested that multiple environmental stressors should be considered during ecological risk assessment and management of emerging pollutants.

PMID: 29377676 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]