|
(30-04) Earthworm avoidance test for soil assessment - results of a laboratory comparison test. Hund-Rinke, Kerstin*,1, Römbke, Jörg2, Achazi, Rudolf3, 1 Fraunhofer IME, 57377 Schmallenberg, Germany2 ECT Oekotoxikologie, 65439 Flörsheim, Germany3 FU Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany ABSTRACT- To assess the habitat function of soils for the soil biocenosis reproduction tests with soil organisms (e.g. earthworms, collembola, enchytraeids) are performed. Especially for earthworms,however, such tests are very time-consuming needing long incubation periods(56 days). For a screening test the avoidance behaviour can be used as a quick indicator for the presence of toxic contaminants. At the beginning of the test the vessels are divided into two equal sections by means of a vertically introduced divider. One half of the vessel is filled with test soil, the other half is filled with control soil. Then the separator is removed, and 10 worms of the species Eisenia fetida are placed on the separating line of each test vessel. The vessels are incubated for 48 h. At the end of the test period the control and test soils are separated by inserting the divider. The number of worms is determined for both sections of the vessels. The test is run in 5 replicates. The results of a laboratory comparison test(three laboratories) can be summarized as follows: Sensitivity: comparable to reproduction test with the same organism (prerequisite: contaminants can be detected by chemoreceptors). Assessment criteria for toxicity: > 80 % of the worms leave the soil to be assessed. Control soil: feasible selection criteria for the control soil (e.g. sandy soil according to ISO 11269-2 or OECD soil). Reference substance: reference substances of the reproduction test suitable. Comparability of test results: dose response curves and assessment of test soils differing in their physico-chemical parameters as well as contamination by different laboratories are comparable. Key words: ecotoxicity, soil, assessment, earthworm |
