|
(353) Effects of polycyclic aromatic compounds on the survival and reproduction of three soil invertebrate species . Sverdrup, Line1, Scott-Fordsmand, Janeck2, Jensen, John2, Krogh, Paul-Henning2, 1 2 ABSTRACT- Few terrestrial ecotoxicity data exist for substances other than pesticides and metals. The relative sensitivity of the different terrestrial test organisms is therefore not well investigated. An acute toxicity test with earthworms was adopted as an OECD guideline in 1984, and since then it has been extensively used to assess the toxicity of chemicals and contaminated soil samples. During the last few years, international standards have been developed for toxicity testing with other soil dwelling animals, e.g. springtails and enchytraeids. The present study has investigated the relative sensitivity of three chronic ecotoxicity tests (endpoints: survival and reproduction) using earthworms (Eisenia veneta), springtails (Folsomia fimetaria) and enchytraeids (Enchytraeus crypticus) as test organisms. Eight polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) were selected as model substances: Pyrene, flouranthene, phenanthrene, fluorene, dibenzothiophene, dibenzofuran, carbazole and acridine. The results show that no species is the most sensitive for all chemicals, but in general, springtails were more sensitive than enchytraeids and earthworms with respect to both effects on survival and reproduction. For some substances, the most sensitive species was dependant on which endpoint was considered (i.e. the 50% effect on survival (LC50), the 50% or 10% effect on reproductive output (the EC50 or EC10, respectively), or the No Observable Effect Concentration (NOEC)). Using soil specific soil-pore water partitioning coefficients (Kd-values), effect concentrations for the different chemicals could be expressed as soil pore water concentrations. The lipofilicity of the chemicals (Kow) was found to be a reasonably good predictor variable for the pore water effect concentrations (mmol/L), especially for springtails. Key words: terrestrial invertebrates, sensitivity, survival, reproduction |
