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Organochlorine insecticide residues in earthworms from arable soils
Author(s) -
Wheatley G. A.,
Hardman J. A.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740190410
Subject(s) - dieldrin , lumbricus terrestris , earthworm , aldrin , arable land , chemistry , residue (chemistry) , environmental chemistry , agronomy , pesticide , biology , ecology , agriculture , organic chemistry
Six species of earthworms from an arable soil were analysed for residues of aldrin, dieldrin, DDT and γ‐BHC. The ratios between the concentrations of γ‐BHC, aldrin + dieldrin and p,p ′‐DDT + p,p ′‐DDE in the earthworms and in the soil (concentration factors) were similar but the residue concentrations were consistently higher in the smaller more shallow‐living species Allolobophora caliginosa, A. chlorotica and A. rosea than in the larger deeper‐living species Lumbricus terrestris, A. longa and Octolasion cyaneum. In arable field plots, dieldrin residues in A. longa and A. chlorotica increased with increasing concentrations in the soil but the concentration factors decreased. The concentrations of residues in earthworms ( W ) appear to be related to those in the soil ( S ) by an equation of the form W = aS b where a and b are constants, the latter being about 0.79 for a wide range of residue data embracing the uptake of aldrin‐dieldrin, DDT components, and γ‐BHC by earthworms.