title: Comparative toxicity of ten organic chemicals to four earthworm species.
abstract: Ten organic chemicals were tested for toxicity to four earthworm species: Allolobophora tuberculata, Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae and Perionyx excavatus, using the European Economic Community's (EEC) earthworm artificial soil and contact testing procedure. The phenols were the most toxic chemicals tested, followed by the amine, substituted benzenes, halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and phthalate as the least toxic chemical tested. Correlations among species within each type of test for a given chemical were extremely high, suggesting that the selection of earthworm test species does not markedly affect the assessment of a chemical's toxicity. The correlation between the two tests was low for all test species. The contact test LC50 for a given chemical cannot be directly correlated to an artificial soil test LC50 for the same earthworm species.
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Neuhauser
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Durkin
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Malecki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anatra
mesh_terms: D000588:Amines / Q000633:toxicity; D000818:Animals; D001555:Benzene Derivatives / Q000633:toxicity; D006846:Hydrocarbons, Halogenated / Q000633:toxicity; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000187:drug effects*; D010636:Phenols / Q000633:toxicity; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000633:toxicity; D011083:Polycyclic Compounds / Q000633:toxicity; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000588:Amines; D001555:Benzene Derivatives; D006846:Hydrocarbons, Halogenated; D010636:Phenols; D010795:Phthalic Acids; D011083:Polycyclic Compounds; D012989:Soil Pollutants