Effects of phenanthrene on Lemna minor in a sediment-water system and the impacts of UVB

The objective of this study was to evaluate if the Lemna-bioassay is appropriate to test contaminated sediments. A mixture of sand was spiked with phenanthrene to investigate whether sediment-bound pollutants can affect the plants via direct contact of the roots or the underside of the leaves. After 24 h of equilibration for sorption/desorption processes, the test was carried out in the sediment-water mixture, and another test was performed with the aqueous phase which was separated from the sediment. The growth inhibition of Lemna was nearly the same in both tests. Hence it follows that the toxicant is adsorbed from the aqueous phase via the underside of the leaves and sediment bound phenanthrene is not bioavailable. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are known to show photoinduced toxicity to plants in the presence of UV which is a result of photosensitization reactions in the plant and photomodification to more toxic and better soluble photoproducts. Photoinduced toxicity could be observed in the water phase during UVB treatment, whereas the presence of suspended sediment probably lowered the UV intensity, resulting in a lower growth inhibition.