Abolishing Toxicity of Copper by Some Environmental Factors Using Green Alga Chlorella vulgaris

Abstract

A variety of environmental factors are known to modify the toxicity of heavy metals on algae. This study was undertaken to examine the impact of some inorganic and organic complexes on the toxicity of copper using the isolated algal species (Chlorella vulgaris). The data illustrate that the amount of available forms of copper (copper free ions) gradually decreased with increasing the concentrations of all tested inorganic and organic complexes (carbonates, EDTA, Glycine and calcium). The toxicity of a metal is controlled by the concentrations of the available form (s) and not by the total concentration of the metal. In other words, the availability and the toxicity depend on the concentrations of the different physico-chemical forms (speciation) of the metals in their natural environments.