Toxicity of metals and metal mixtures: analysis of concentration and time dependence for zinc and copper

The toxic effects of heavy metals, zinc and copper, in unary and binary solutions were studied using the Microtox® acute toxicity test which relies upon the attenuation of light intensity emitted by Vibrio fischeri. The toxic effect Γ (ratio of the light intensity lost at time t to the light intensity remaining at time t) of zinc could be related to its concentration [X] by a two-parameter equation Γ=a(1-exp(-b[X])), where parameter a was a function of time and b equal to 0.88 L/mg. The toxic effect of zinc asymptotically approached a maximum with respect of to concentration at all times. The toxic effect of copper was fundamentally different from that of zinc, and increased exponentially with concentration without any limiting maximum value. It could also be described by a two-parameter equation, however, the equation had the form , where parameter a was a constant and b a function of time. The different functional dependencies (of the toxic effect on the metal concentration) of zinc and copper indicate that different toxicity/inhibition mechanisms were possibly responsible for the attenuation of light intensity for the two metals. The toxic effects of binary mixtures were substantially higher than those expected on the basis of additivity of individual metals. No simple correlations were obtained that could relate the toxic effect of binary mixture to those of individual metals. A better understanding of metal–microbe interactions is needed for achieving predictive capability for toxic effect of mixtures.