Blue-green alga Spirulina as a tool against water pollution by 1,1'-(2,2,2-trichloroethane-1,1-diyl)bis(4-chlorobenzene) (DDT)

Abstract

The presented work concerns studying a possibility of using blue-green alga (cyanobacteria) Spirulina for cleaning water polluted with DDT (1,1'-(2,2,2-trichloroethane-1,1-diyl)bis (4-chlorobenzene)). For this aim, at first the influence of different concentrations of DDT (1, 10 and 50 ppm) on the ability of growing of Spirulina and the intensity of uptake of DDT by blue-green alga have been investigated. In parallel, the penetration of tested toxicant into Spirulina cells and the influence on cell ultrastructure by using electron microscopic method have been studied. The obtained results show that DDT easily penetrated Spirulina cells and caused partial destruction of organelles. According to obtained data, 10 ppm is acceptable concentration of DDT for Spirulina growing in polluted water. Finally, the model large-scale experiment in reservoir with volume 40 L for testing possibility of using Spirulina to clean artificially polluted water have been carried out. The obtained results have been shown that after 15 days of incubation Spirulina removes approximately 70% of DDT from polluted water. These results can become a basis for development of a new phytoremediation technology for cleaning of DDT-polluted waters based on application of Spirulina.