Publication details
Bioaccumulation test of persistent organic pollutants in Eisenia fetida: chemical analysis issues
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Bioaccumulation of pollutants in earthworms must be seriously considered in ecological risk assessment, because it may result to toxic effects for earthworms and to biomagnification of food chains. Nowadays, OECD bioaccumulation test guideline is finishing. However, we think that there are still some issues which are worth to consider when measuring the bioaccumulation of POPs in earthworms. At this poster, these issues are discussed using the results gathered (let’s say by the way) throughout our bioaccumulation experiments with spiked soils, Eisenia fetida and GC/MS analysis. Firstly, it is necessary to control the soil spiking: (1) analyze spiking solution, (2) check real soil concentrations after spiking and contamination homogeneity, and (3) adjust moisture loss during spiking. We suggest here a procedure how to do these. Using described approach the variability of POPs distribution in the experimental soil was kept below 10%. When analyzing POPs in exposed Eisena fetida it is necessary to know (1) variability and (2) background concentrations in worms. We performed 10 independent replicates of the bioaccumulation test and we found RSD 21%, 26%, 19%, 12%, and 30% for the accumulated concentrations of phenanthrene, pyrene, PCB 153, lindane, and DDT respectively. This is relatively high and it suggests that more than 3 replicates recommended in the new OECD guideline should be used definitely. In worms from the control, we found some POPs which never exceeded 800 ng/gdw. And finally, all necessary controls of recovery must run in analysis of both worms and soil. Cca 1/3 total loss of analytes during worms extraction and clean-up was mainly (70-90%) caused by nitrogen blow-down steps. It is also recommended to check the matrix effect on the analytical response. |
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