THE COMBINED EFFECT OF HEAVY METALS AND SHUNGITE ON INDICATOR PLANKTON ORGANISMS

Abstract

The combined effect of salts of heavy metals and schungite on the test organisms of phytoand zooplankton has been studied. The toxic effect, of both cadmium sulfate and potassium dichromate on the culture of Scenedesmus guadricauda was inactivated in the presence of schungite (100 g/l). The efficiency of photosynthesis, the number of cells, the proportion of living cells and the lifetime of the microalgal cell population increased after adding shungite to the medium (without toxicants).In addition, in acute experiments with a duration up to 96 hrs, the toxicity of potassium dichromate, copper sulfate and cadmium sulfate on crustaceans (Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia affinis) was determined in the presence of schungite (0.01 g/l) and without schungite. The study of the action of schungite on crustaceans showed that it protects, both Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia affinis, from the action of toxicants at the minimum concentration (0.01 g/l) of the five tested concentrations. At higher concentrations of schungite, Daphnia magna died. It was shown that the acute toxicity of heavy metals for two species of crustaceans decreases in the series Cu-Cd-Cr. An analysis of the obtained data showed that the shungite concentrations necessary for the inactivation of heavy metals are thousands of times higher for algae than for crustaceans. Therefore, for the use of schungite as a protector against the toxic effects of various substances, a preliminary laboratory analysis of the survival of different species of hydrobionts in a specific aquatic environment is needed.