Toxicity benchmarks for antimony, barium, and beryllium determined using reproduction endpoints forFolsomia candida,Eisenia fetida, andEnchytraeus crypticus

Abstract

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing ecological soil screening levels (Eco-SSLs) for the ecological risk assessment of contaminants at Superfund sites. The Eco-SSLs for several soil contaminants have been developed from toxicity benchmarks for soil invertebrates in the existing literature. Insufficient information to generate Eco-SSLs for Sb, Ba, and Be necessitated toxicity testing to fill the data gaps. We used standardized toxicity tests with the earthworm Eiseniafetida, enchytraeid Enchytraeus crypticus, and collembolan Folsomia candida in the present study. These tests were selected on the basis of their ability to measure chemical toxicity to ecologically relevant test species during chronic assays and their inclusion of at least one reproduction component among the measurement endpoints. Tests were conducted in Sassafras Sandy Loam soil, which supports relatively high bioavailability of metals. Weathering and aging procedures for metals in amended soil were incorporated into these studies to better reflect exposure conditions in the field. The relative toxicity of metals to the soil invertebrates tested was Be > Sb > Ba based on the median effective concentration values for reproduction. These studies produced toxicological data that can contribute to the development of Eco-SSLs for Sb, Ba, and Be for soil invertebrates.

Ecotoxicological risks of the abandoned F–Ba–Pb–Zn mining area of Osor (Spain)

“…Between sites, the higher toxicity of EM-1 was associated to the significantly higher presence of metals in the site. Besides Pb and Zn, Sb content in EM-1 was also high and close to the EC50 for reproduction tests (70 mg Sb kg -1 ) established by Kuperman et al (2006) after contaminating a natural soil with antimony sulfate. The toxicity of tailings (TOS sample) to terrestrial organisms was lower than expected despite the accumulation of metals that occurred during the concentration of gangue material in flotation processes.…”

Antimony in the environment: knowns and unknowns

“…For instance, more than 50 years ago, Bradley and Fredrick [104] concluded that the 'toxicity is determined by the solubility of the compound in question'. However, to take one example, this did not impede the publication of a recent study [105] where, after the authors stated that Sb III sulfate is insoluble in water and showed that measured antimony concentrations were ∼10% of the nominal ones, they nonetheless expressed the results in nominal terms.…”

Teores naturais de bário em solos de referência do estado de Pernambuco

“…É constituinte de carbonatos, sulfatos e silicatos e ocorre em minerais, como substituto isomórfico de elementos como Ca e K (Vázquez & Anta, 2009). Quando disponível em elevados teores no solo, pode causar toxidez a plantas e invertebrados, além de interferir na disponibilidade de S, devido à formação de sulfatos de baixa solubilidade (Kuperman et al, 2006;Coscione & Berton, 2009). Em animais, apenas cerca de 2 % do Ba ingerido na dieta é absorvido pelo organismo, tendendo a se acumular nos ossos em substituição ao Ca (CCME, 1999 (Ribeiro, 1999), congrega a situação ideal para a definição de valores orientadores, recomendada pela Resolução do CONAMA (2009) em seu Anexo I, referente à seleção dos solos: "Identificar os tipos de solo em cada Estado, com base em critérios como o material de origem do solo (litologia), relevo e clima, de modo a se obter um conjunto de tipos de solos que representem os compartimentos geomorfológicos, pedológicos e geológicos mais representativos do Estado".…”