Ecotoxicological and biochemical mixture effects of an herbicide and a metal at the marine primary producer diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii and the primary consumer copepod Acartia tonsa

Mixture effects of chemicals and their potential synergistic interactions are of great concern to the public and regulatory authorities worldwide. Intensive agricultural activities are leading to discharges of chemical mixtures to nearby estuarine and marine waters with possible adverse effects on the aquatic communities and for the trophic food web interlinking these communities. Further information about the impacts of these stressors on aquatic organisms is needed. This study addresses ecotoxicological and biochemical effects of single and mixtures of the metal copper and the herbicide Primextra® Gold TZ on the marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii and on the estuarine calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa by determining growth rate and survival, respectively, and changes on fatty acid(FA) profiles in both species. Mixture effects on diatom species revealed that copper and Primextra® acted most likely additively with respect to the concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) models with model deviation ratios (MDR), 0.752 and 1.063, respectively. For the copepod species, copper and Primextra® were most likely non-interactive with respect to the CA model (MDR = 1.521) but acted most likely synergistically with respect to the IA model (MDR = 2.026). A significant decline in the absolute FA concentration was observed for copepod species after mixture exposure including a considerable decrease of essential FAs that cannot be synthesized de novo by these grazers. We concluded that the mixture effects are more hazardous for primary consumer than for primary producer species in terms of both abundance and biomass quality, suggesting a potential for harmful effects for higher trophic levels and thus a decrease in energy flow through the ecosystem.