Toxic Effects of Dichloromethane and Trichloroethylene on the Growth of Planktonic Green Algae, Chlorella vulgaris NIES227, Selenastrum capricornutum NIES35, and Volvulina steinii NIES545

Abstract

Toxic effects of dichloromethane and trichloroethylene on the growth of three planktonic green algae, Chlorella vulgaris NIES227, Selenastrum capricornutum NIES35, and Volvulina steinii NIES545, were examined. The two organic solvents at concentrations of up to a hundred-fold the Japanese national effluent standards did not affect the growth of the former two algae, but at just a tenth of the concentration of the standards were fatal to the latter. Even water with a relatively low concentration of pollutants, which meets the effluent standards for human health, is not necessarily harmless to the natural ecosystem.