Doklady Biological Sciences, Vol. 380, 2001, pp. 499–501. Translated from Doklady Akademii Nauk, Vol.
380, No. 6, 2001, pp. 847–849.
Original Russian Text Copyright © 2001 by Ostroumov.
GENERAL BIOLOGY
The Hazard of a Two-Level Synergism
of Synecological Summation of Anthropogenic Effects
S. A. Ostroumov
Presented by Academician V.N. Bol’shakov April 18, 2001
Received April 26, 2001
There are a number of approaches to identification
and classification of the hazards of anthropogenic
impact on organisms, populations, ecosystems and the
biosphere [1–7].
The purpose of this study was to identify a new type
of ecological hazard of anthropogenic impact (using
chemical pollution as an example), which we propose
to term “synecological summation” or “synergistic
summation” of anthropogenic effects on organisms of
two adjacent trophic levels.
As s continuation of our studies on the anthropo-
genic impact of mixed chemicals, we studied the effects
of some detergents on the filtering activity of the
bivalves Crassostrea gigas Thunberg and Mytilus gal-
loprovincialis Lam. The organisms were obtained from
the Institute of Biology of Southern Seas (INBUM),
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The method
of measurement was described in [6].
The data shown in Tables 1–3 demonstrate that the
detergents Vesna-Delikat, IXI, and Tide-Lemon inhib-
ited water filtering by bivalves, including both adult
(Tables 1, 2) and juvenile (Table 3) organisms. The con-
centrations of the detergents producing this effect were
relatively low. This agrees with similar data on the
inhibitory effects produced by low concentrations of
other detergents, as well as of some individual chemi-
cals which belong to the class of surfactants [8–10].
Note that the same concentrations of detergents and
surfactants did not produce noticeable effects on sev-
eral species of unicellular organisms that represented a
part of the suspended matter.
It was shown that the detergent Tide-Lemon at a
concentration of less than 100 mg/l did not inhibit the
growth of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 [11]. The deter-
gents OMO-Intelligent (1, 10, and 100 mg/l) did not
inhibit the growth of Anacystis nidulans (Synechococ-
cus elongatus) R-2 [12]. Moreover, the detergent Tide-
Lemon at concentrations of 1–100 mg/l stimulated the
growth of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Scenedes-
Moscow State University, Vorob’evy gory, Moscow,
119899 Russia
00499$25.00 © 2001 MAIK “Nauka /Interperiodica”
0012-4966/01/0910-
mus quadricauda [11] in some growth media; the deter-
gents TL (10 mg/l) and E (10 mg/l) stimulated the
growth of A. nidulans [12]. Stimulation of some other
species of phytoplankton (marine microalgae) was also
shown [13].
Various species of phytoplankton were shown to
have different sensitivities to surfactants. It was shown
that the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana is relatively
sensitive to the nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 [14].
However, the entire set of data available allows us to
conclude that at least some species of phytoplankton
are relatively tolerant to detergents and their compo-
nents (several surfactants), at concentrations that sig-
nificantly reduce the water filtering activity of bivalves.
The reduction of the filtering activity is associated with
a decrease in the ability of bivalves to remove sus-
pended particles from water.
The actual chemical pollution of water bodies is a
complex pollution with a whole range of chemicals.
Therefore, it is important that this range of chemicals
may include both surfactants and nutrients, e.g., phos-
phorus. Many detergents include both surfactants and
phosphorus-containing chemicals; hence, they are per-
fect examples of the source of the double contamina-
tion of water with both components. This fact is in
accord with the aforementioned stimulation of the
growth of some phytoplanktonic species by detergents
(because the stimulatory effect of phosphorus might
sometimes be more pronounced than the inhibitory
effects of the other chemicals in the mixture).
In actual ecological systems, the two group of
organisms considered (phytoplankton and bivalves) are
linked together in trophic chains. Therefore, different
types of responses of phytoplankton and bivalves to
some chemicals that simultaneously occur in water
(under the conditions of complex water pollution, or
pollution with a mixture of chemicals) may bring about
consequences important to the state of the ecosystem.
Because of the link between the two trophic levels,
the hazards of individual chemicals that affect individ-
ual trophic levels may be combine to yield the follow-
ing effects: first phosphorus may stimulate the growth
of phytoplankton; second, the control of phytoplankton
(via its removal from water consumers) is disturbed
500 OSTROUMOV

Table 1. Effect of the detergent VD on the change in the optical density (OD550) of the suspension of S. cerevisiae during its
filtration by the oysters Crassostrea gigas
Time from Control 1 (with
No. of Experiment Control 2 (without EER, ratio
the beginning of oysters, without VD)
measurement (+ VD) (A) oysters, without VD) (C) OD550 A/B, %
incubation, min (B)
1 7 0.162 0.237 121.0 0.196
2 22 0.055 0.174 176.4 0.097
Note: VD, the detergent Vesna-Delikat (1 mg/l). There were 16 oysters in each of the beakers (beakers A and B). The total weight (wet
weight with shells) of the oysters: A, 23.6 g; B, 23.5 g. The average weight of one oyster: A, 1.475 g; B, 1.469 g. The water volume
in each beacker was 250 ml;. the temperature was 23.4°C. S. cerevisiae density, 60 mg/l. EER, the effect on the efficiency of removal
of the suspended matter from water.

Table 2. Effect of the detergent IXI on the change in the optical density (OD550) of the suspension of S. cerevisiae during its
filtration by the mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis
OD550
Time from the
No. of Control 1 Control 2 EER, ratio
beginning of the Experiment
measurement (with mussels, (without mussels, OD550 A/B, %
incubation, min (+ IXI) (A)
without IXI) (B) without IXI) (C)
1 3 0.310 0.269 0.352 115.2
2 8 0.192 0.129 0.342 148.8
Note: Detergent IXI, 1 mg/l. The total weight (wet weight with shells) of the mussels: A, 96.2 g; B, 98.5 g. The average weight of one mussel:
A, 6.01 g; B, 6.16 g. The water volume in each beacker was 500 ml; the temperature was 22.3 °C. S. cerevisiae density, 100 mg/l. EER,
the effect on the efficiency of removal of the suspended matter from water.

Table 3. Effect of the detergent TL on the change in the optical density OD650 of the suspension of Pavlova lutheri (Droop)
Green (Monochrysis lutheri Droop) during its filtration by juvenile mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis

Time from the Experiment (+ TL) (A) Control 1 (with mussels, Control 2 (without
No. of without TL) (B) mussels, without TL) (C) Ratio OD650
beginning of the
measurement A/B, %
incubation, min 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 44 – – 0.12 0.10 – –
(Average 0.11)
47 – – – – 0.15 0.15 127.3
49 0.134 0.145 – – – –
(Average 0.14)
2 75 – – 0.072 0.070 – –
(Average 0.071)
78 – – – – 0.14 0.14 169.0
80 0.12 0.12 – – – –
Note: TL, Tide-Lemon (50 mg/l). Each variant was in duplicate (beakers 1 and 2, variant A; beakers 3 and 4, variant B; beakers 5 and 6, variant C).
In parentheses, the average values for duplicates are shown. The age of the mussels was two months. The total weight (wet weight with shells)
of the mussels: beakers 3 and 6, 0.10 g; beaker 4, 0.09 g; beaker 5, 0.11 g. The average weight of one juvenile mussel was 0.93 mg.

because of the negative effects of surfactants on the
organisms of the next trophic level (represented by fil-
ter feeders, including bivalves) [15]. Because of this
type of the trophic-chain organization, there exists a
hazard of summation of the two types of effects (in
spite of the fact that primary targets of the chemicals
are organisms belonging to different trophic levels)
(Table 4).
The hazard of that type is based on the unequal sen-
sitivity of some phytoplanktonic species and benthic

DOKLADY BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Vol. 380 2001

 THE HAZARD OF A TWO-LEVEL SYNERGISM OF SYNECOLOGICAL SUMMATION
Table 4. Examples of the anthropogenic effects that give rise to the hazard of two-level synergism of synecological summa-
tion (based on [6–13, 15] and other publications)
Trophic levels Organisms
Primary Phytoplankton: Synechocystis sp. PCC
producers 6803; S. quadricauda [11]; Anacystis
(autotrophs) nidulans (Synechococcus elongatus)
R-2 [12]; and some others [13]
Consumers Benthic bivalves (filter feeders): Unio
(phytophagous pictorum, Crassostrea gigas, Mytilus edulis,
heterotrophs) and M. galloprovincialis [6–10], etc.
filter-feeders to several chemicals. An unequal sensitiv-
ity has also been found for some other chemicals (pes-
ticides) in the case of comparing phytoplankton and
zooplankton grazers that consume phytoplankton [15].
These data indicate that the aforementioned hazard of
summation of anthropogenic impacts on organisms
belonging to different tropic levels is of general impor-
tance.
In conclusion, our data on bivalves make it possible
to identify a new type of hazard due to water pollution
with a mix of two or more chemicals. This is the danger
that even relatively mild influences on organisms of
two adjacent trophic levels may eventually produce a
synergistic, pronounced and definitely undesirable
effect that will lead to an abnormal increase in the
abundance of organisms of one of the trophic levels.
It seems possible to predict that, in the future, new
examples of the hazard of similar synergy of individual
effects of anthropogenic impacts on organisms of vari-
ous trophic levels will be described, for both aquatic
(freshwater and marine) and terrestrial ecosystems.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I am grateful to V.D. Fedorov, M.E. Vinogradov,
A.F. Alimov, V.V. Malakhov, N.V. Revkova, N.N. Kolo-
tilova, and other colleagues at the Moscow University
and Russian Academy of Sciences for discussion of the
paper, as well as their assistance, and advice. I thank
G.E. Shulman, G.A. Finenko, V.I. Kholodov, A.V. Pir-
kova, A.Ya. Stolbov, and A.A. Soldatov for providing
the molluscs and for their help and P. Wangersky for
valuable advice.
This work was partly supported by the Open Society
Support Foundation (grant RSS no. 1306/1999) and the
IBG.
DOKLADY BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Vol. 380 2001
501
Components of the
Potential effects of the chemical agents
mixtures of chemicals
Phosphorus-containing Stimulation of the growth of the
chemicals (phosphates) phytoplankton
Surfactants Inhibition of the water filtration by
bivalves; decrease in the removal of
cells of phytoplankton from water
REFERENCES
1. Bezel’, V.S., Bol’shakov, V.N., and Vorobeichik, E.L.,
Populyatsionnaya ekotoksikologiya (Population Ecotoxi-
cology), Moscow: Nauka, 1994.
2. Izrael, Yu.A. and Tsyban, A.V., Antropogennaya
ekologiya okeana (Anthropogenic Ecology of the
Ocean), Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat, 1989.
3. Yablokov, A.V. and Ostroumov, S.A., Conservation of
Living Nature and Resources: Problems, Trends and
Prospects, Berlin: Springer, 1991.
4. Ostroumov, S.A., Dokl. Akad. Nauk, 2000, vol. 371,
no. 6, pp. 844–846.
5. Ostroumov, S.A., Vvedenie v biokhimicheskuyu ekologiyu
(Introduction to Biochemical Ecology), Moscow: Mosk.
Gos. Univ., 1986.
6. Ostroumov, S.A., Biologicheskie effecty poverkhnostno-
aktovykh veshchestv v svyazi s antropogennymi voz-
deistviyami na biosferu (Biological Effects of Surfac-
tants in Connection with the Anthropogenic Impact on
the Biosphere), Moscow: MAX, 2000.
7. Ostroumov, S.A., Vestn. Mosk. Univ. Ser. 16: Biol., 2000,
no. 4, pp. 27–34.
8. Ostroumov, S.A., Donkin, P., and Staff, F., Dokl. Akad.
Nauk, 1998, vol. 362, pp. 574–576.
9. Ostroumov, S.A., Dokl. Akad. Nauk, 2000, vol. 372,
no. 2, pp. 279–282.
10. Ostroumov, S.A., Dokl. Akad. Nauk, 2000, vol. 374,
no. 3, pp. 427–429.
11. Kolotilova, N.N. and Ostroumov, S.A., Problemy
ekologii i fiziologii mikroorganizmov (Problems of Eco-
logy and Physiology of Microorganisms), Moscow: Dia-
logue-MGU, 2000, p. 66.
12. Ostroumov, S.A. and Kolotilova, N.N., Vodnye eko-
sistemy i organizmy-2 (Aquatic Ecosystems and Orga-
nisms-2), Moscow: MAX, 2000, p. 60.
13. Aizdaicher, N.A., Malynova, S.I., and Khristoforova, N.K.,
Biol. Morya, 1999, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 234–238.
14. Fisher, N., Maertz-Wente, M., and Ostroumov, S.A., Izv.
Akad. Nauk Ser. Biol., 1996, no. 1, pp. 91–95.
15. Ostroumov, S.A., Dokl. Akad. Nauk, 2000, vol. 375,
no. 6, pp. 847–849.