Screening and biomonitoring of industrial effluents using phytotoxicity tests

Abstract

The use of phytotoxicity (higher plant) tests as a part of ecotoxicology is relatively underdeveloped. The objective of this study was to evaluate phytotoxicity tests for screening and biomonitoring complex effluent samples. Mortality tests using common duckweed and seed germination tests were conducted using eight effluent samples collected from three industrial sources. Duckweed plants were found to be extremely sensitive to two effluents, with nearly 100% mortality occurring. Duckweed plants in some samples showed lesions (breakup of colony structure) and loss of green pigments (chlorosis); others showed localized dead tissues (necrosis). Six kinds of seeds were tested: cabbage, cucumber, millet, Japanese millet, rice and wheat. Cabbage and millet seeds were the most sensitive. The germination of these seeds was 100% inhibited in some samples. The results suggest that phytotoxicity tests with higher plants have potential for use in the biomonitoring of industrial effluents because of their simplicity, sensitivity and cost‐effectiveness.

The potential of the Phytotoxkit microbiotest for hazard evaluation of sediments in eutrophic freshwater ecosystems

“…Higher plant phytotoxicity bioassays, based on seed germination, root elongation, and early seedling growth measurements, have been conducted with various terrestrial and aquatic plant species (Wang 1991;Mohan and Hosetti 1999). Up to now, data on phytotoxicity studies have been considered in the toxicity evaluation of various media, such as commercial chemicals (Günter and Pestemer 1990), industrial and municipal effluents, hazardous wastes, leachates (Vasseur et al 1998;Wang and Williams 1988;Filidei et al 2003), and contaminated soils and sediments (Beltrami et al 1999;Valerio et al 2007). Recently, phytotoxicity test with terrestrial plants are receiving increasing attention also in assessing sediment toxicity, particularly in terms of dredging activity (Chen et al 2002).…”

Phytotoxicity of Atrazine, S-Metolachlor, and Permethrin to Typha latifolia (Linneaus) Germination and Seedling Growth

“…Ecotoxicological studies examining phytotoxicity of organic contaminants are less prominent than those which focus on vertebrates and invertebrates (Wang and Williams 1988). The use of seed germination and root elongation, as well as the ability of T. latifolia to serve as a representative aquatic macrophyte species for phytotoxicity assessments have been promoted by Wang (1987), Wang and Williams (1990), and Moore et al (1999).…”

Toxicity reduction of photo processing wastewaters

“…Higher plants have recently been used, including common duckweed, lettuce, millet, and rice [7][8][9][10][11][12]. In a recent paper, rice was reported to be the most promising among ten plant species for toxicity testing of metal engraving wastewater [13].…”