Abstract

It is proposed an original procedure for the population control of toxic cyanobacteria by associating gamma radiation with heating. Microcystis panniformis Komárek et al. was irradiated with 5 KGy of gamma radiation, immediately followed by a heating treatment at 40°C during 90 min. The results revealed that the combination of irradiation with the heating treatment increased the number of deaths relatively to irradiation alone. Actually, after 48 h from the beginning of the experiment the death percentages relatively to the control, in samples irradiated/heated and only irradiated, were 98 and 72%, respectively. It is our understanding that the use of gamma radiation associated with heating is a new technology, which could be adapted for large scale control of toxic cyanobacteria present in water supply reservoirs.