Lysine acetylsalicylate increases the safety of a paraquat formulation to freshwater primary producers: A case study with the microalga Chlorella vulgaris

Highlights: •The formulation has a reduced toxicity to C. vulgaris when compared to Gramoxone®. •The highest protection was achieved at the proportion of 1:8 (PQ/LAS). •LAS conferred a protection of approximately 1.8 fold (% of inhibition of growth). •Salicylic acid is biotransformed by C. vulgaris after 48 h, and not detectable at 96 h. -- Abstract: Large amounts of herbicides are presently used in the industrialized nations worldwide, with an inexorable burden to the environment, especially to aquatic ecosystems. Primary producers such as microalgae are of especial concern because they are vital for the input of energy into the ecosystem and for the maintenance of oxygen in water on which most of other marine life forms depend on. The herbicide paraquat (PQ) is known to cause inhibition of photosynthesis and irreversible damage to photosynthetic organisms through generation of reactive oxygen species in a light-dependent manner. Previous studies have led to the development of a new formulation of PQ containing lysine acetylsalicylate (LAS) as an antidote, which was shown to prevent the mammalian toxicity of PQ, while maintaining the herbicidal effect. However, the safety of this formulation to primary producers in relation to commercially available PQ formulations has hitherto not been established. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of the PQ + LAS formulation in comparison with the PQ, using Chlorella vulgaris as a test organism. Effect criterion was the inhibition of microalgal population growth. Following a 96 h exposure to increasing concentrations of PQ, C. vulgaris growth was almost completely inhibited, an effect that was significantly prevented by LAS at the proportion used in the formulation (PQ + LAS) 1:2 (mol/mol), while the highest protection was achieved at the proportion of 1:8. In conclusion, the present work demonstrated that the new formulation with PQ + LAS has a reduced toxicity to C. vulgaris when compared to Gramoxone®