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Mixture toxicity of five biocides with dissimilar modes of action on the growth and photosystem II efficiency of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

ABSTRACT Biocides are extensively used and universally distributed. Some are highly toxic to algae, including antifoulants, herbicides, and fungicides. The inhibition of algal growth is an important regulatory endpoint for toxicity assessment of single compounds. However, in the aquatic environment, mixtures of compounds with unknown toxicities and mode of action (MoA) co-exist, making single toxicity assessment inadequate to ensure protection of the aquatic environment. This study aimed to characterize the combined toxicity of five environmentally relevant biocides—aclonifen, bifenox, dichlofluanid, metribuzin, and triclosan—with different MoA on growth and photosystem (PS) II efficiency of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. For growth inhibition, herbicides bifenox and metribuzin were the most toxic, whereas triclosan was least. Only aclonifen and metribuzin exerted a significant effect on PSII, which was also correlated with reduced algal growth. The combined effect of the five biocides on growth inhibition was predominantly additive and presumed to act by independent MoA with potential antagonism observed only at low concentrations and at shorter duration of exposure. The binary mixture of metribuzin and aclonifen exhibited additive effects on diminished PSII efficiency, and effects were apparently induced by an independent MoA. Potential synergy of this mixture on growth inhibition was identified at the highest concentrations. Growth inhibition was found to be a more valuable endpoint for regulatory studies than PSII inhibition due to its environmental relevance, integration of multiple MoA and sensitivity.