HR: 1330h
AN: NB33J-03 [Abstracts]
TI: Effects of Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids on Freshwater Primary Producers
AU: * Kulacki, K J
EM: kkulacki@nd.edu
AF: University of Notre Dame, Department of Biological Sciences, Notre Dame, IN 46556-0369 United States
AU: Bernot, R J
EM: rbernot@nd.edu
AF: University of Notre Dame, Department of Biological Sciences, Notre Dame, IN 46556-0369 United States
AU: Lamberti, G A
EM: lamberti.1@nd.edu
AF: University of Notre Dame, Department of Biological Sciences, Notre Dame, IN 46556-0369 United States
AU: Lodge, D M
EM: lodge.1@nd.edu
AF: University of Notre Dame, Department of Biological Sciences, Notre Dame, IN 46556-0369 United States
AB:
Room-temperature ionic liquids (ILs) are non-volatile chemicals, which are presumed to be environmentally friendly because
they pose no significant threat to air quality. However, the potential toxic effects of ILs on aquatic environments have not
been studied, despite the likelihood of unintentional releases into streams and lakes during industrial applications. We
studied the effects of ILs on the growth rates of the freshwater green algae Scenedesmus quadricauda and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in 96-h bioassays. ILs with increasing alkyl chain lengths (from 1-butyl- to 1-hexyl- to
1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide) were increasingly toxic to S. quadricauda (EC-50 values of 0.28 mg*L-1, 0.04
mg*L-1, and <0.005 mg*L-1 respectively). S. quadricauda growth rates decreased with increasing IL
concentration across all treatments. Compared to controls, C. reinhardtii growth rates were higher at 200-800
mg*L-1 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (bmimBr) treatments, but declined at 1600 mg*L-1 bmimBr. These results
illustrate that different algal taxa can respond quite differently to potential chemical pollutants. Furthermore, by
studying the effects of ILs on primary producers in concert with organisms from other trophic levels, we can develop
hypotheses about how these effects may be felt throughout aquatic ecosystems.
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects
DE: 1871 Surface water quality
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly