The effect of tributyltin-oxide on earthworms, springtails, and plants in artificial and natural soils

• Published in: Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 525 - 534
• Main Authors: RÖMBKE, J, JÄNSCH, S, JUNKER, T, POHL, B, SCHEFFCZYK, A, SCHALLNASS, H.-J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-05-2007; Berlin Springer Nature B.V; New York, NY
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Antifouling substances; Applied ecology; Arthropods - drug effects; Arthropods - physiology; Benchmarks; Bioavailability; Biological and medical sciences; Brassica rapa - drug effects; Brassica rapa - growth & development; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Flowers & plants; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Lethal Dose 50; No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level; Oligochaeta - drug effects; Oligochaeta - physiology; Physicochemical properties; Phytotoxicity; Plant species; Reproduction - drug effects; Seedlings; Soil Pollutants - toxicity; Soils; Toxicity; Toxicity testing; Trialkyltin Compounds - toxicity; Tributyltin; Worms; Ecotoxicology; Oxides; Annelida; Oligochaeta; Earthworm; Soils; Plant; Pollution; Environment; Invertebrata; Tin Organic compounds; Organic stannane; Organic compounds
• ISSN: 0090-4341; 1432-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s00244-006-0099-y

Chemical bioavailability in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) artificial soil can contrast with bioavailability in natural soils and produce ecotoxicologic benchmarks that are not representative of species' exposure conditions in the field. Initially, reproduction and growth of earthworm and Collembolan species, and early seedling growth of a dicotyledonous plant species, in nine natural soils (with a wide range of physicochemical properties) and in OECD soil were evaluated. Soils that supported reproduction and growth of the test species were then used to investigate the toxicity of tributyltin-oxide (TBT-O). Natural soils caused greater toxicity of TBT-O to earthworms (EC(50) values varied from 0.5 to 4.7 mg/kg soil dry weight [dw]) compared with toxicity in OECD soil (EC(50) = 13.4 mg/kg dw). Collembolans were less sensitive to TBT-O than earthworms in natural soils, with EC(50) values ranging from 23.4 to 177.8 mg/kg dw. In contrast, the toxicity of TBT-O to collembolans in OECD soil (EC(50) = 104.0 mg/kg dw) was within the range of EC(50) values in natural soils. Phytotoxicity tests revealed even greater difference between the effects in natural soils (EC(50) values ranged from 10.7 to 189.2 mg/kg dw) and in OECD soil (EC(50) = 535.5 mg/kg dw) compared with results of the earthworm tests. Studies also showed that EC(50) values were a more robust end point compared with EC(10) values based on comparisons of coefficients of variation. These results show that toxicity testing should include studies with natural soils in addition to OECD soil to better reflect exposure conditions in the field.