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Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction as a predictor of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon bioaccumulation and toxicity by earthworms in manufactured‐gas plant site soils
Author(s) -
Kreitinger Joseph P.,
QuĩonesRivera Antonio,
Neuhauser Edward F.,
Alexander Martin,
Hawthorne Steven B.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1897/06-608r.1
Subject(s) - environmental chemistry , eisenia fetida , earthworm , soil water , chemistry , bioaccumulation , polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon , extraction (chemistry) , toxicity , environmental science , agronomy , biology , soil science , chromatography , organic chemistry
The toxicity and uptake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by earthworms were measured in soil samples collected from manufactured‐gas plant sites having a wide range in PAH concentrations (170–42,000 mg/kg) and soil characteristics. Samples varied from vegetated soils to pure lampblack soot and had total organic carbon contents ranging from 3 to 87%. The biota‐soil accumulation factors (BSAFs) observed for individual PAHs in field‐collected earthworms ( Aporrectodea caliginosa ) were up to 50‐fold lower than the BSAFs predicted using equilibrium‐partitioning theory. Acute toxicity to the earthworm Eisenia fetida was unrelated to total PAH concentration: Mortality was not observed in some soils having high concentrations of total PAHs (>42,000 mg/kg), whereas 100% mortality was observed in other soils having much lower concentrations of total PAHs (1,520 mg/kg). Instead, toxicity appeared to be related to the rapidly released fraction of PAHs determined by mild supercritical CO 2 extraction (SFE). The results demonstrate that soils having approximately 16,000 mg rapidly released total PAH/kg organic carbon can be acutely toxic to earthworms and that the concentration of PAHs in soil that is rapidly released by SFE can estimate toxicity to soil invertebrates.