| Abstract: | Experiments to study the influence of biomass concentration and pH on copper uptake by blue-green algae were performed. Differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) was used for copper analysis. The maximum copper uptake per unit of biomass depends only on copper concentration and not on biomass concentration. Hence the copper toxicity is independent of biomass over a wide range. A main factor influencing copper uptake is the pH. Whereas the copper uptake of Aphanizomenon gracile is rapid at pH = 8.2 we did not find a significant uptake at pH = 5.7. The copper uptake at the higher pH value is followed by a nearly complete release of this copper, accompanied by a fast shortening of trichomes. There was no significant copper uptake in Oscillatoria redekei at pH = 8.2, but at pH = 7.2 the uptake pattern of this species is similar to that of Aphanizomenon at pH = 8.2. The results suggest that the metal ion uptake mechanisms of different species have not the same pH optima. |
