Using diatom chain length as a bioindicator of heavy-metals contamination in marine environments

The increasing release of toxic heavy metals into marine environments poses significant risks due to their persistence and bioaccumulation. Diatoms are ideal bioindicators because of their sensitivity to environmental changes. Despite traditional methods for detecting these persistent pollutants effectively identify composition and concentration, they are time-consuming, they often require the use of harmful reagents, and do not allow a fast assessment of detrimental impacts on marine organisms. To fill this gap, we have successfully investigated the toxicity of different heavy metals in the marine diatom Skeletonema pseudocostatum thanks to a newly developed high-power terahertz (THz) spectrometer. By combining THz spectroscopy, microscopy and ecotoxicological assays, we found that the formation of long diatom chains is significantly inhibited by the presence of lead, copper, and chromium, which disrupt their metabolism. Although the THz absorption and refractive index spectra were not affected by diatom concentration in undoped samples, THz frequencies were highly sensitive to changes in diatom chain length due to heavy metals exposure. These findings suggest that this approach allows to investigate the biochemical processes involved in chain formation in S. pseudocostatum and related algae. THz spectroscopy could therefore provide deeper insights into the microscopic metabolic activity of diatoms, addressing key biochemical questions surrounding these organisms. Furthermore, we propose this novel approach for environmental pollution monitoring, since it could provide a rapid, harmless and sensitive detection method to assess heavy metal toxicity in marine diatoms, key organisms at the basis of the trophic chain.