A better method for assessing sublethal effects of soils to the earthworm Eisenia foetida
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
The authors have developed and tested a procedure which allows quantification of growth and reproductive effects of contaminated soils to the earthworm, Eisenia foetida. The procedure monitors isolated pairs of earthworms and generates a higher ratio of data per organism than other commonly used procedures which require larger numbers of earthworms per experimental unit. The procedure also incorporates an accurate technique for measuring adult growth. The method has high sensitivity and is cost-effective. The method was applied to a variety of soil-testing problems to demonstrate its versatility and provide validation. A food-and-substrate trial demonstrated the sensitivity of the method and the need for food supplementation in OECD artificial soil to stimulate earthworm reproduction. A trial to examine a soil bioremediation technology revealed the advantage of measuring both growth and reproduction and highlighted the usefulness of a single integrated measure of these two responses. The method then was applied as a fast-screening method for field soils in a large-scale ecological risk assessment. Finally, a reference toxicant, applied in dilution series, demonstrated that responses of Eisenia foetida to their method are similar to their responses to the OECD artificial soil test. Collectively, results of this study indicate that their procedure can be used both for regulatory and compliance needs within the framework of ecological risk assessment.
- OSTI ID:
- 49575
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410273-; TRN: IM9523%%398
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 15. annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Denver, CO (United States), 30 Oct - 3 Nov 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 15th annual meeting: Abstract book. Ecological risk: Science, policy, law, and perception; PB: 286 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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