Acute toxicity of five brominated diphenyl ether congeners to marine bait-algae species:Platymonas subcordiformis and Dunaliella saliva

In this study, acute toxicity test was used to identify the effects of five PBDE congeners, named BDE-28, BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-153 and BDE-209, to two species of marine microalgae, Platymonas subcordiformis and Dunaliella saliva, in the laboratory.The 96-h median effective concentration (96 h EC50) for each species was calculated.The results showed that BDE-28 and BDE-47 were particularly toxic to marine bait-algae and the toxicity of PBDE congeners decreased with the amount of Br atoms in the congener molecule.Ranking 96 h EC50 for both P.subcordiformis and D.saliva was BDE-28(128, 75 g/L) BDE-47(114, 120 g/L) EC50 by one or two order of magnitude.Therefore acute tests with more species should be performed for evaluating objectively the ecological risk of PBDEs in coastal area.