A multi-species approach to toxicity assessment of a soil remediation technology

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:49452

Gunderson, C A; Kostuck, J M; Gibbs, M H; Napolitano, G E; Wicker, L F; Richmond, J E; Stewart, A J ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division

A multi-species terrestrial test system was developed to test the biological effectiveness of composting as a soil-remediation technology. A suite of responses were evaluated across multiple scales to form a chain of evidence predictive of longer-term effects at higher levels. The authors compared responses of soil microorganisms, two soil invertebrates, and three plant species to two compost types (the final product from a US Army explosives composting study, and an uncontaminated reference compost). The authors evaluated plant growth and physiology (photosynthesis, root modulation and symbiotic N2-fixation), invertebrate growth and reproduction, and soil microbial populations. Compost from the contaminated soil inhibited several aspects of plant performance, but produced few adverse effects on invertebrates. An initial lag in invertebrate reproduction in the reference compost, however, suggested differences not associated with residual contamination and highlighted a difficulty inherent in soil toxicity assessment: finding an appropriate reference soil. Nevertheless, the results from this system and complementary shorter-term tests suggested some non-lethal adverse effects from the contaminated-soil compost, primarily to plants. This methodology can bridge the gap between traditional short-term toxicity testing and longer-term field assessments and provide information on ecological effects by explicitly including measurements at several levels of ecological organization.

• OSTI ID: 49452
• Report Number(s): CONF-9410273--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
56 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
APPLIED STUDIES
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
COMPOST
COMPOSTING
INVERTEBRATES
PLANTS
REMEDIAL ACTION
SENSITIVITY
SOILS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT