Responses of Periphyton Microbial Growth, Activity, and Pollutant Removal Efficiency to Cu Exposure

Wei Zhong, Weiqun Zhao and Jianhui Song
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Wei Zhong: College of Environment, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing 210098, China
Weiqun Zhao: Power China Kuminng Engineering Co., Ltd., Kuminng 650051, China
Jianhui Song: Sinohydro Bureau 8 Co., Ltd., Changsha 410004, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-9

Abstract: Periphyton is an effective matrix for the removal of pollutants in wastewater and has been considered a promising method of bioremediation. However, it still needs to be verified whether periphyton can maintain microbial activity and pollutant removal efficiency when dealing with the influence with complex components, and the underlying mechanisms of periphyton need to be revealed further. Herein, this study investigated the microbial growth, activity and functional responses of periphyton after removal of Cu from wastewater. Results showed that the cultivated periphyton was dominated by filamentous algae, and high Cu removal efficiencies by periphyton were obtained after 108 h treatments. Although 2 mg/L Cu 2+ changed the microalgal growth (decreasing the contents of total chlorophyll-a (Chla), the carbon source utilization and microbial metabolic activity in periphyton were not significantly affected and even increased by 2 mg/L Cu 2+ . Moreover, chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates were sustained after 0.5 and 2 mg/L Cu 2+ treatments. Our work showed that periphyton had strong tolerance and resistance on Cu stress and is environmentally friendly in dealing with wastewater containing heavy metals, as the microbial functions in pollutant removal could be maintained.

Keywords: periphyton; metal pollution; Cu 2+; bioremediation; carbon sources utilization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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