MOE Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2014 Jan 17;15(1):1255-70. doi: 10.3390/ijms15011255.
Nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NPnEOs), a major class of nonionic surfactants, can easily enter into aquatic environments through various pathways due to their wide applications, which leads to the extensive existence of their relative stable metabolites, namely nonylphenol (NP) and mono- to tri-ethoxylates. This study investigated the bioconcentration and degradation of NP and NPnEO oligomers (n = 1-12) by a green algae, Chlorella vulgaris. Experimental results showed that C. vulgaris can remove NP from water phase efficiently, and bioconcentration and degradation accounted for approximately half of its loss, respectively, with a 48 h BCF (bioconcentration factor) of 2.42 × 10(3). Moreover, C. vulgaris could concentrate and degrade NPnEOs, distribution profiles of the series homologues of the NPnEOs in algae and water phase were quite different from the initial homologue profile. The 48 h BCF of the NPnEO homologues increased with the length of the EO chain. Degradation extent of total NPnEOs by C. vulgaris was 95.7%, and only 1.1% remained in water phase, and the other 3.2% remained in the algal cells. The algae removed the NPnEOs mainly through degradation. Due to rapid degradation, concentrations of the long chain NPnEO homologous in both water (n ≥ 2) and the algal phase (n ≥ 5) was quite low at the end of a 48 h experiment.
壬基酚聚氧乙烯醚（NPnEOs）是一类重要的非离子表面活性剂，由于其广泛的应用，很容易通过各种途径进入水生环境，导致其相对稳定的代谢物——壬基酚（NP）和单- 到三-乙氧基化物的广泛存在。本研究采用绿藻小球藻研究了 NP 和 NPnEO 低聚物（n = 1-12）的生物浓缩和降解。实验结果表明，小球藻能够有效地从水相中去除 NP，生物浓缩和降解分别约占其损失的一半，其 48 h 的 BCF（生物浓缩因子）为 2.42×10(3)。此外，小球藻可以浓缩和降解 NPnEOs，NPnEOs 系列同系物在藻类和水相中的分布谱与初始同系物谱有很大的不同。NPnEO 同系物的 48 h BCF 随 EO 链的长度增加而增加。小球藻对总 NPnEOs 的降解程度为 95.7%，只有 1.1%残留在水相中，其余 3.2%残留在藻类细胞中。藻类主要通过降解去除 NPnEOs。由于快速降解，在 48 h 实验结束时，水中（n≥2）和藻类相中（n≥5）长链 NPnEO 同系物的浓度都相当低。
