Application of Salvinia biloba Raddi. in the Phytoextraction of the Emerging Pollutant Octocrylene in an Aquatic Environment

Abstract

The phytotreatment technique, which has never been used to treat emerging compounds, is used in this work to measure the phytoextraction of octocrylene (OC) in three concentrations (200, 400, and 600 μg/L of OC) by Salvinia biloba Raddi. The species proved to be a phytoextractor by accumulating OC in floating leaves at concentrations of 1,500,000 μg/kg in treatment 200 and 1,050,000 in 600 μg/L of OC. Chlorophyll synthesis was affected at all OC concentrations, especially 400 μg/L, with a chlorophyll a/b ratio of less than 1. Enzymatic activity responded to the contaminant: CAT and APX are inhibited in the submerged portions after 48 h, staying below 2.0E−6 μmol/min/μg of protein. GPOX was totally inhibited during the experiment, and SOD remains active at 200 and 600 μg/L. The cytogenotoxic effects of OC to confirm phytoextraction were evaluated by globally regulated tests with Allium cepa bulbs and germinal bulbs in Lactuca sativa and Avena fatua every 48 h. These tests showed that after 72 h of phytoextraction, the medium was no longer cytogenotoxic and the seeds germinated above 30%, confirming the phytoextractor capacity of S. biloba. Thus, we can affirm that S. biloba can be used in the phytotreatment of aquatic environments contaminated with OC.