Ecological Consequences of Pollution of Freshwater Reservoirs with Metals: Role of Cu(II) Binding with Low-Molecular Organic Substances
B. S. SMOLYAKOV1, A. P. RYZHIKH1, Zh. O. BADMAEVA2 and N. I. ERMOLAEVA3
1A. V. Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry,
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentyeva 3, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russia) E-mail: ecol@che.nsk.su
2A. A. Trofimuk United Institute of Geology, Geophysics and Mineralogy,
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russia)
3Institute of Water and Ecological Problems, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Morskoy Pr. 2, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russia)
Pages: 447-459
Abstract
Mesosimulation of the chemical forms of Cu(II) with variation of their distribution in solution was used to study the ecological consequences of the transformations of these forms caused by pollution of a natural freshwater reservoir. Copper (II) and substances that serve as models of natural low-molecular organic compounds with different structures (benzyl- and n-hexadecyl malonic acids, BMAH2, HDMAH2, and phthalocyanine CuPhC) were introduced into mesocosms arranged directly in a water reservoir (Novosibirsk water reservoir). The distribution of Cu(II) over chemical forms in solution was specified based on the results of the preliminary computer simulation and realized by varying pH of water. The residual concentration of Cu in solution and on suspended particles, as well as the response of phyto- and zooplanktons, were monitored for 8-15 days in the mesocosms. It was discovered that in the presence of other forms of copper in solution, binding of Cu(II) into CuBMA complexes had no effect on metal removal to bottom sediments and on the productive capacity of phytoplankton, but stimulated growth of the zooplankton mass. The rate of copper removal to bottom sediments increased when the polar fragment of CuBMA was replaced by a hydrophobic unit (CuHDMA); however, zooplankton was suppressed. The introduction of the CuPhC complex into water has stimulated the development of both phyto- and zooplanktons. The presence of low-molecular organic compounds able to bind Cu(II) in solution generally weakens the adverse ecological consequences of water pollution with copper salts.
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