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Environmental problems - Chemical approaches
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Toxicity of engineered copper (Cu0) nanoparticles to the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Emanuel Müller A B , Renata Behra A B and Laura Sigg A B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.

B ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) Zürich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.

C Corresponding author: laura.sigg@eawag.ch

Environmental Chemistry 13(3) 457-463 https://doi.org/10.1071/EN15132
Submitted: 24 June 2015  Accepted: 18 September 2015   Published: 30 November 2015

Environmental context. Engineered copper nanoparticles are presently under development for various uses and may thus be finally released into the aquatic environment. Copper is well known to be both an essential and a toxic element for aquatic organisms. Here, we investigate the toxicity of copper nanoparticles to a green alga and compare it with the toxicity of dissolved copper.

Abstract. The toxicity of carbon-coated copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) to the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was investigated and compared with effects of dissolved Cu2+. The CuNPs with an original size of 6–7 nm rapidly agglomerated in the medium to average particle sizes of 140–200 nm. Dissolved Cu from CuNPs increased over 2 h to 1–2 % of total Cu. The photosynthetic yield of C. reinhardtii strongly decreased after exposure for 1 or 2 h to dissolved CuII in the concentration range 0.1–10 μM, whereas this decrease occurred in the total Cu concentration range 1–100 μM after exposure to CuNPs. Effects of CuNPs were compared with those of dissolved CuII on the basis of dissolution experiments. CuNP effects on photosynthetic yield were similar or somewhat stronger for the same dissolved Cu2+ concentration. Addition of EDTA as a strong ligand for CuII suppressed the toxicity of dissolved CuII and of CuNPs. These results thus indicate effects on the algae are mostly from free Cu2+.


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