Professor Peter K J Robertson (IDeAs Institute for Innovation Design and Sustainability, The Robert Gordon University)
Location: Ridley Building 2, seminar room 1.46
Time/Date: 27th November 2012, 15:15 - 16:15
NOTE: places at this seminar are limited. Please email chris.earle-storey@ncl.ac.uk by Friday 23rd November if you wish to attend.
Cyanobacterial toxins produced and released by cyanobacteria around the world have been well-documented. The incidence of cyanobacterial blooms in freshwaters, including drinking water reservoirs, has increased over the past few decades due to rising nutrient levels. Of most significant concern are the hepatotoxic microcystins and nodularins.
Microcystins are a family of hepatotoxic peptides produced by freshwater cyanobacteria. Nodularins, produced by the cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena, are structurally and biologically similar to microcystins and both groups of toxins are among the commonly found cyanobacterial toxins detected in water. It has been shown that the mode of action of these toxins at a molecular level is caused by the inhibition of serine/threonine protein phosphatases 1 and 2A. Chronic exposure due to the presence of hepatotoxic cyanotoxins in drinking water is thought to be a contributing factor in primary liver cancer (PLC) through the known tumour-promoting activities of these compounds. Since cyanobacterial toxins pose a considerable threat to human health, various water treatment processes have been evaluated to degrade these toxins. It is believed, however, that conventional water treatment systems may be unreliable for the removal of these toxins. TiO2 photocatalysis has, nevertheless, proven to be an effective technology for removal of both these class of compounds from water.
In this seminar the application of TiO2 photocatalysis for the removal of these two cyanotoxins is reviewed and the efficacy of the technology as a treatment process for potable waters contaminated with such compounds is considered.
Published: 26th October 2012