Abstract
Tritium ((3) H) is a radioactive element of ecological concern because of its release into aquatic ecosystems from nuclear power plants. However, the acute and chronic effects of tritiated water (HTO) on aquatic organisms are poorly documented, as are its effects on oxidative stress. In addition, the effects of HTO in combination with other contaminants remain largely unexamined. Herein, we document the effect of HTO on a primary aquatic producer (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) by measuring growth and oxidative stress using fluorimetric (H(2) DCF-DA) determination of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production. The maximum cell density of the alga (1.65 × 10(6) cells mL(-1) ) was reduced by 23% (1.27 × 10(6) cells mL(-1) ) at the highest exposure tested (59 MBq mL(-1) HTO), whereas cells exposed to 0.9 MBq mL(-1) showed a significantly enhanced maximum cell density of 1.90 × 10(6) cells mL(-1) , an increase of 15%. With regard to oxidative stress, exposure to HTO (0.04, 0.16, and 2.8 MBq mL(-1) ) induced an early dose-dependent peak in ROS production after 14-15 min of exposure, followed by a slow decrease in ROS which stabilized after 60 min. Moreover, this study showed that the presence of HTO may influence the impact of other conventional, nonradioactive contaminants, such as copper, a well known oxidizing trace metal for aquatic organisms. A significant synergic effect of copper and HTO on ROS production was observed. This synergic effect on oxidative stress was shown to be linked to an enhanced copper uptake rate measured in the presence of HTO (> 4 times). We conclude that HTO should be considered as a sensitizer when in a mixture with other contaminants, especially through interactions on the antioxidant system of algae.