Rapid tests for the toxicity evaluation of soil contaminated by lead-acid batteries manufacture

Abstract

Lead-acid battery manipulation is one of the major sources of environmental contamination of lead in developing and underdeveloped countries. For the preliminary investigation of the soil ecotoxicological potential of a mechanical workshop with deposit of lead-acid battery tailings, the avoidance behavior response test with Eisenia andrei and the phytotoxicity test with Lactuca sativa were made. The quantification of cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, iron and arsenic, was also performed. The level of lead found in the test soil was 56 times higher than the permitted value in Brazilian legislation, but the soil only showed toxicity in the avoidance behavior response test with earthworms. None of the phytotoxicity tests showed toxicity to lettuce seeds in germination rate and seedling length. This preliminary study confirms the contamination of these sites by lead and indicates that this contamination can cause damages to the edaphic fauna, suggesting further studies in areas contaminated by tailings of lead-acid batteries.