Bioaccumulation of Arsenic by Freshwater Algae and the Application to the Removal of Inorganic Arsenic from an Aqueous Phase. Part I. Screening of Freshwater Algae Having High Resistance to Inorganic Arsenic

Abstract

Several freshwater alga having resistance to arsenic were screened from microorganisms which had been sampled at sites polluted with arsenic from a geothermal electric power plant and old mines and smelters of arsenic ores. The alga thus screened could grow in the liquid medium (Modified-Detmer culture medium) containing sodium arsenate at levels up to 2000 ppm as elemental arsenic concentration. Some mixed systems of alga grew rapidly in the media at the higher levels of arsenic ranging from 50 to 2000 ppm. The mixed systems of alga screened included predominantly blue-green algae, green algae, and diatom, and also included protozoa, rotifera, and bacteria as minor components. One pure algal culture was obtained by means of an agar plate culture, and the algae isolated was identified as Chlorella vulgaris Beijerinck var. vulgaris. The growth of C. vulgaris in a pure culture was unaffected by 100 ppm of arsenic.