Kinetics of cadmium accumulation in periphyton under freshwater conditions

The aim of the present study was to investigate the kinetics of cadmium (Cd) accumulation (total and intracellular) in periphyton under freshwater conditions in a short-term microcosm experiment. Periphyton was precolonized in artificial flow-through channels supplied with natural freshwater and then exposed for 26.4 h to nominal Cd concentrations of 5 and 20 nM added to natural freshwater. Labile Cd in water determined with diffusion gradient in thin films was 60 to 69% of total dissolved Cd in the exposure channels and 11% in the control channel. Intracellular Cd concentrations in periphyton increased rapidly and linearly during the first 71 min. Initial intracellular uptake rates were 0.05 and 0.18 nmol of Cd/g of dry weight x min in the 5 nM and 20 nM exposures, respectively. The subsequent intracellular uptake was slower, approaching steady state at the end of Cd exposure. Uptake kinetics of Cd was slower when compared to experiments with planktonic algal cultures, probably due to diffusion limitations. Intracellular Cd uptake during the entire exposure was modeled with a nonlinear, one-compartment model from which uptake and clearance rate constants, as well as bioconcentration factors, were obtained. The release of Cd from periphyton after the end of Cd exposure was slow when compared to the initial uptake rates.