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. 2014 Jan 17;15(1):1255-70.
doi: 10.3390/ijms15011255.

The bioconcentration and degradation of nonylphenol and nonylphenol polyethoxylates by Chlorella vulgaris

Hong-Wen Sun  1 , Hong-Wei Hu  2 , Lei Wang  3 , Ying Yang  4 , Guo-Lan Huang  5
Affiliations

The bioconcentration and degradation of nonylphenol and nonylphenol polyethoxylates by Chlorella vulgaris

Hong-Wen Sun et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NPnEOs), a major class of nonionic surfactants, can easily enter into aquatic environments through various pathways due to their wide applications, which leads to the extensive existence of their relative stable metabolites, namely nonylphenol (NP) and mono- to tri-ethoxylates. This study investigated the bioconcentration and degradation of NP and NPnEO oligomers (n = 1-12) by a green algae, Chlorella vulgaris. Experimental results showed that C. vulgaris can remove NP from water phase efficiently, and bioconcentration and degradation accounted for approximately half of its loss, respectively, with a 48 h BCF (bioconcentration factor) of 2.42 × 10(3). Moreover, C. vulgaris could concentrate and degrade NPnEOs, distribution profiles of the series homologues of the NPnEOs in algae and water phase were quite different from the initial homologue profile. The 48 h BCF of the NPnEO homologues increased with the length of the EO chain. Degradation extent of total NPnEOs by C. vulgaris was 95.7%, and only 1.1% remained in water phase, and the other 3.2% remained in the algal cells. The algae removed the NPnEOs mainly through degradation. Due to rapid degradation, concentrations of the long chain NPnEO homologous in both water (n ≥ 2) and the algal phase (n ≥ 5) was quite low at the end of a 48 h experiment.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Nonylphenol (NP) concentrations in algal cells and water phase, and bioconcentration factors (BCFs) of NP in algal cells with time during incubating C. vulgaris in 200 μg/L NP solution.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Time dependent NP biodegradation efficiency by C. vulgaris based on the total NP mass lost in algae and water phase.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Initial concentration distribution profiles of the nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NPnEO) homologues (n = 1–12).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Time-dependent bioconcentration of the homologues of NPnEOs (n = 1–12) in C. vulgaris.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Variation of concentration of the NPnEO (n = 1–12) homologues in water phase.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Dissipation of the total NPnEOs (n = 12) in the algal (C. vulgaris) culture water.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Concentration variation of NP in water and algal cells during the bioconcentration and biodegradation of 16.94 mg/L NPnEO (n = 1–12) by C. vulgaris.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Aerobic biodegradation pathway of NPnEOs [62].
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