Uptake and Toxicity of Organic Compounds: Studies with an Aquatic Macrophyte ( )
SourceAquatic macrophytes have been the subjects of relatively little research attention, either for their ability to accumulate pollutants or for their susceptibility to any toxic action of pollutants. Duckweed (Lemna minor) clones were maintained in axenic culture and were exposed to several carbon-14 (14C) labeled compounds added to the culture medium. Transfer of radioactivity from media to plants (bioconcentration) was described empirically with regression equations incorporating exposure times and concentrations, partition coefficients, and types of water used to make the culture media. In separate experiments, the growth of cultures in terms of frond numbers was described as a function of exposure time for several concentrations of the herbicides terbutryn, ethalfluralin, and fluridone. Bioconcentration and growth equations were then used to estimate those herbicide residues that should be associated with reductions in culture growth.