Meeting Abstract

P3.17  Jan. 6  The effects of acute exposure to Triclosan on estuarine algal communities WILSON, Brittan; University of Massachusetts, Boston bawilson13@gmail.com

Aquatic communities are inundated with pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), including the antimicrobial compound Triclosan, via effluent water from municipal sewage treatment plants. In freshwater systems, streams act as pipes to channel the effluent waters to algal communities. Chronic exposure in streams of Triclosan both reduces algal productivity and alters the overall community structure. In well-mixed estuarine systems, the overall water mass will be tidally mixed. Estuarine retention times can vary on the scale of days to weeks. Algal communities will therefore be exposed to varying concentrations over the tidal cycle and dependent is on their location within the estuary as it mixes. This study will looked at the effects of acute exposure (6 h) on productivity to a range of Triclosan concentrations from 0.002�2 μg/L on estuarine algal communities. The algae were also exposed to the degradation products of Triclosan 2,4-dichlorophenol and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol at the same concentrations. These results were compared with those found for chronic exposure levels determine for streams tested for at least 14 d. Though there are affects due to acute exposure as found in estuaries, this study indicates that acute exposure is less caustic than the chronic exposure typically experienced in freshwater streams. Therefore, direct water column exposure in estuaries may not be as great an ecological risk to algal communities. However, monitoring should continue in these regions and further analysis of effects on benthic communities is needed.