abstract
Although magnetic ionic liquids (MILs) are not yet industrially applied, their continued development and eventual commercial use may lead to their appearance into the aquatic ecosystem through accidental spills or effluents, consequently promoting aquatic contaminations. Furthermore, the deficient information and uncertainty surrounding the environmental impact of MHz could be a major barrier to their widespread industrial application and international registration. Thus, in the present work, a range of cholinium salt derivatives with magnetic properties was synthesized and their ecotoxicity was evaluated towards the luminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri. The results suggest that all MILs structures tested are moderately toxic, or even toxic, to the bacteria. Furthermore, their toxicity is highly dependent on the structural modifications of the cation, namely the alkyl side chain length and the number of hydroxyethyl groups, as well as the atomic number of the metal anion. Finally, from the magnetic anions evaluated, the [MnCl4](2-) is the less toxic. In order to improve the knowledge for the prospective design of environmentally safer MILs, it is important to expand this study to other aquatic organisms at different trophic levels.
keywords
TOXICITY; FISCHERI; ECOTOXICITY; EXTRACTION; SEPARATION; CHEMISTRY; SOLVENTS; BEHAVIOR; SYSTEMS; QSAR
subject category
Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Toxicology
authors
Sintra, TE; Nasirpour, M; Siopa, F; Rosatella, AA; Goncalves, F; Coutinho, JAP; Afonso, CAM; Ventura, SPM
our authors
Projects
CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UID/CTM/50011/2013)
Projeto de Investigação Exploratória: Sónia Patricia Marques Ventura (IF/00402/2015)
acknowledgements
This work was developed in the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (Ref. FCT UID/CTM/50011/2013), and iMed. ULisboa (Ref. UID/DTP/04138/2013) and CESAM (ref. FCT UID/AMB//50017/2013) financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC. The authors also thank FCT for the project PTDC/ATP-EAM/5331/2014 and Fundacdo para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) doctoral and post-doctoral grants SFRH/BD/85871/2012, SFRH/BPD/88666/2012, and SFRH/BPD/75045/2010, of T.E. Sintra, F. Siopa, and A.A. Rosatella, respectively and REDE/1518/REM/2005 for the mass service. S.P.M. Ventura acknowledges FCT/MEC for a contract under Investigador FCT 2015 contract number IF/00402/2015.