Interrelationships among trace metals and metallothionein in digestive glands and gills for field samples of Merceneria merceneria.

More widespread use of metallothionein (MT) as a biomarker for trace metal pollution continues to be partly dependent on obtaining reliable baseline concentrations and identifying increased induction of the enzyme with only modest increases in metal concentrations. In this study, new data on metals and MT levels in whole clams tissue, gills, and digestive glands from field samples and in sediments are presented. Concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, and Zn in depurated (24 h) clam samples of digestive glands, gills, and the whole clam Merceneria merceneria from the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, varied with location and showed moderate to strong correlations among Zn, Cu, and Fe.

Fatty acids from high rate algal pond's microalgal biomass and osmotic stress effects.

The extraction of oil from a wild microalgae biomass collected from a domestic wastewater treatment facility's high rate algal pond (HRAP) was investigated. An experiment plan was used to determine the most efficient extraction method, the optimal temperature, time and solvent system based on total lipids yield. Microwave-assisted extraction was the most efficient method whether in n-hexane or in a mixture of chloroform/methanol compared to Soxhlet, homogenization, and ultrasounds assisted extractions.

Microalgae from domestic wastewater facility's high rate algal pond: Lipids extraction, characterization and biodiesel production.

In this study, the harvesting of a biomass from a high rate algal pond (HRAP) of a real-scale domestic wastewater treatment facility and its potential as a biomaterial for the production of biodiesel were investigated. Increasing the medium pH to 12 induced high flocculation efficiency of up to 96% of the biomass through both sweep flocculation and charge neutralization. Lipids extracted by ultrasounds from this biomass contained around 70% of fatty acids, with palmitic and stearic acids being the most abundant.