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TECHNICAL REPORTS

Bioremediation and Biodegradation

Removal of Technetium from Solution by Algal Flagellate Euglena gracilis

^a Office of Biospheric Assessment for Waste Disposal, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, 263-8555 Japan
^b Aquatic Radiation Ecotoxicology Research, Environmental Radiation Effects Research Group, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, 263-8555, Japan

^* Corresponding author (nobu{at}nirs.go.jp)

Received for publication January 31, 2006. Based on limited data for the removal of radioactive ⁹⁹Tc by freshwater phytoplankton, it has been thought that phytoplankton are unsuitable for remediation of ⁹⁹Tc-contaminated waters. This work sought to verify the validity of this assumption by studying the removal of ⁹⁹TcO₄^– by freshwater and brackish water phytoplankton. The phytoplankton used were Euglena gracilis, Chlamydomonas pulsatilla, Chlorella vulgaris, and Spirulina platensis. Each of them was incubated for 63 d, and the removal of ⁹⁹Tc from solution was periodically determined. Significant removal of ⁹⁹Tc was observed only for E. gracilis, and the maximum removal was 70% of the total ⁹⁹Tc added. The killed cells of E. gracilis, however, removed hardly any ⁹⁹Tc. When E. gracilis cells were washed with fresh culture medium, only 13% of the total ⁹⁹Tc was desorbed. These results suggested that intracellular uptake of ⁹⁹Tc by E. gracilis occurred. These results are the first documented example of significant removal of ⁹⁹Tc by planktonic microalgae.