Effects of halogenated organic compounds on photosynthesis in estuarine phytoplankton

Abstract

Chlorine oxidants (chlorine gas, sodium hypochlorite, and calcium hypochlorite) are used as biocides to control fouling in seawater cooled power generating plants and to kill pathogens in sewage effluents entering estuarine waters. Organisms killed include algae, fungi, bacteria, barnacles, oysters, and clams. Use of these chemicals in saline waters results in the formation of halogenated by-products (JOHANNESSON 1958, DUURSAM & PARSI 1976, DOVE 1973). BEAN et al, (1978), in a study of chlorinated seawater, identified eighteen organic compounds generated by chlorination. Due to rapid substitution of bromine for chlorine, brominated rather than chlorinated by-products are formed (FARKAS et al. 1949, GALAL-GORCHEV & MORRIS 1965, MACALADY et al. )977, SUGAM & HELZ 1977). The effects of these chlorinated by-products on estuarine phytoplankton are not known. Experiments in this study examined singly the effects of fifteen commercially available compounds on photosynthesis by estuarine phytoplankton.