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ABSTRACT
Most of our previous studies reported aluminum causes no cell damage or lysis, and no subsequent toxin release in conventional treatment of drinking water or in the laboratory, on the contrary, we investigated the effect of long-term and large-dose alum treatment, because the environmental conditions in lakes and treatment plants are widely different. The microcosm experiments were designed to simulate the effect of adding alum under the similar conditions of common lakes and reservoirs, and the bottle experiments were conducted to examine the budget or dynamics of microcystin after adding alum. In precipitate analyses, we also confirm the release and dynamics of microcystin and the damage mechanisms of Microcystis cells under alum treatment. In microcosms treated with alum alone, the extracellular microcystin-LR (MC-LR) concentration increased to approximately 82% in 7 days. Similar results were obtained in bottle experiments. By plotting the concentration of released microcystin over time, we inferred that the extracellular MC-LR concentration exponentially rose toward an asymptotic maximum. Moreover, in scanning electron microscope images, some cells exhibited torn membranes with miniscule traces of aluminum hydroxide coating. We conclude that alum treatment, particularly at maximum dosage administered over long periods, seriously damages Microcystis cells and induces microcystin release. Therefore, long-term application of large alum doses is not recommended as an in-lake treatment.
Funding
Jisun Han received a grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) through the Monbukagakusho Scholarship program.
This research was financially supported by Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), project No. 2015–0123.