A risk assessment of pollution: induction of atrazine tolerance in phytoplankton communities in freshwater outdoor mesocosms, using chlorophyll fluorescence as an endpoint

We investigated the validity and sensitivity of assessments of the induction of atrazine tolerance in freshwater outdoor mesocosmic phytoplankton communities, using the in vivo fluorescence of chlorophyll a as an endpoint, for monitoring ecotoxicology and for risk assessment programs applied to phytoplankton contaminated by photosystem II herbicides. Atrazine inhibits the photosynthetic process, and so the rise in in-vivo fluorescence could be used as a physiological manifestation of acute toxicity. Short-term tests (1 h) were used, in which increasing concentrations of the herbicide were applied to phytoplankton samples taken every two days from the mesocosms, and used to plot dose–response curves. The concentration at which atrazine increased the fluorescence by 25% relative to control samples was used to demonstrate the sensitivity of the phytoplankton, and the values found were compared for samples from different mesocosms (contaminated and non-contaminated). The taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton was also determined. The data showed that chronic exposure (25 days) to 30 μg/L of atrazine significantly increased the apparent tolerance of the phytoplankton to further contamination by the same compound. The use of in vivo fluorescence of chlorophyll a appears to be a reliable and effective parameter for monitoring the effects of atrazine pollution, and detecting the changes in community tolerance driven by pollution selection pressure.