Toxicity of methyl tert butyl ether to soil invertebrates (springtails: Folsomia candida, Proisotoma minuta, and Onychiurus folsomi) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa).
Experiments were conducted to assess the toxicity of methyl tert butyl ether (MTBE) to three species of Collembola (Proisotoma minuta, Folsomia candida, and Onychiurus folsomi) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) using an artificial Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) soil and field-collected sandy loam and silt loam soil samples. Soil invertebrate tests were carried out in airtight vials to prevent volatilization of MTBE out of the test units and to allow for direct head-space sampling and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis for residual MTBE. The use of the airtight vial protocol proved to be very successful, in that the measured MTBE concentrations at the beginning of the experiments were within 95% of nominal concentrations. The test methods used in this study could be used to test the toxicity of other volatile organic compounds to Collembola. The soil invertebrates tested had inhibitory concentration (ICx) and lethal concentration (LCx) values that ranged from 242 to 844 mg MTBE/kg dry soil. When the three test species of Collembola were tested under identical conditions in the artificial OECD soil, O. folsomi was the most sensitive collembolan, with a median inhibitory concentration (IC50; reproduction) of 296 mg MTBE/kg dry soil. The most sensitive endpoint for lettuce was an IC50 for root length of 81 mg MTBE/kg dry soil after 5 d of germination in OECD soil. Data on the loss of MTBE from the three test soils over time indicated that MTBE was retained in the silt loam soil longer than in either the sandy loam or the artificial OECD soil.
Dodd
Matthew
M
Royal Roads University, 2005 Sooke Road, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V9B 5Y2.
Addison
Janet A
JA
Royal Roads University, 2005 Sooke Road, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V9B 5Y2.
D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000187:drug effects*; D018545:Lactuca / Q000187:drug effects*; D008738:Methyl Ethers / Q000633:toxicity*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*
D008738:Methyl Ethers; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C043243:methyl tert-butyl ether
Squillace PJ, Pankow JF, Korte NE, Zogorski JS. 1997. Review of the environmental behavior and fate of methyl tert-butyl ether. Environ Toxicol Chem 16: 1836-1844.
Van Wezel A, Puijker L, Vink C, Versteegh A, De Voogt P. 2009. Odor and flavor thresholds of gasoline additives (MTBE, ETBE and TAME) and their occurrence in Dutch drinking water collection areas. Chemosphere 76: 672-676.
Squillace PJ, Moran MJ. 2007. Factors associated with sources, transport, and fate of volatile organic compounds and their mixtures in aquifers of the United States. Environ Sci Technol 41: 2123-2130.
Williams PRD, Pierce JS. 2008. Overview of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) detections in public drinking water supplies in the United States. Environ Forensics 10: 33-50.
Ayotte JD, Argue DM, McGarry FJ, Degnan JR, Hayes L, Flanagan SM, Helsel DR. 2008. Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in public and private wells in New Hampshire: occurrence, factors, and possible implications. Environ Sci Technol 42: 677-684.
Bellamy J, Guthrie J, Groves S. 2003. Use and releases of MTBE in Canada. Oil, Gas and Energy Branch, Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON.
Morgenroth E, Arvin E. 2003. The European perspective on MTBE as an oxygenate in fuels. In Rapport DJ, Lasley WL, Rolston DE, Nielsen NO, Qualset CO, Damania AB, eds, Managing for Healthy Ecosystems. CRC, Washington, DC, pp 1447-1458.
Klinger J, Stieler C, Sacher F, Brauch H-J. 2002. MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) in groundwaters: monitoring results from Germany. J Environ Monit 4: 276-279.
Rosell M, Lacorte S, Damia B. 2006. Analysis, occurrence and fate of MTBE in the aquatic environment over the past decade. Trends Anal Chem 25: 1016-1029.
Iturbe R, Flores C, Flores RM, Torres LG. 2005. Subsoil TPH and other petroleum fractions-contamination levels in an oil storage and distribution station in north-central Mexico. Chemosphere 61: 1618-1631.
Rosell M, Lacorte S, Barcelo D. 2006. Simultaneous determination of methyl tert-butyl ether, its degradation products and other gasoline additives in soil samples by closed-system purge-and-trap gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 1132: 28-38.
Moreels D, Bastiaens L, Ollevier F, Merckx R, Diels L, Springael D. 2004. Evaluation of the intrinsic methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) biodegradation potential of hydrocarbon contaminated subsurface soils in batch microcosm systems. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 49: 121-128.
Werner I, Koger CS, Deanovic LA, Hinton DE. 2001. Toxicity of methyl tert butyl ether to freshwater organism. Environ Pollut 111: 83-88.
Wong DC, Ray Arnold W, Rausina GA, Mancini ER, Steen AE. 2001. Development of a freshwater aquatic toxicity database for ambient water quality criteria for methyl tertiary-butyl ether. Environ Toxicol Chem 20: 1125-1132.
Hansen BG, Munn SJ, Pakalin S, Musset C, Luotamo M, de Brujin J, Berthault F, Vegro S, Pellegrini G, Allanou R, Scheer S. 2002. European Union Risk Assessment Report Tert-Butyl Methyl Ether, Environment and quality of life, Vol 19. EUR 20417 EN. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
An Y-J, Kampbell DH, McGill ME. 2002. Toxicity of methyl tert-butyl ether to plants (Avena sativa, Zea mays, Triticum aestivum, and Lactuca sativa). Environ Toxicol Chem 21: 1679-1682.
An Y-J. 2005. Assessing soil ecotoxicity of methyl tert-butyl ether using earthworm bioassay; closed soil microcosm test for volatile organic compounds. Environ Pollut 134: 181-185.
An Y-J, Lee W-M. 2008. Comparative and combine toxicities of toluene and methyl tert-butyl ether to an Asian earthworm Perionys excavates . Chemosphere 71: 407-411.
Bonjar GHS. 2004. Potential ecotoxicological implication of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) spills in the environment. Ecotoxicology 13: 631-635.
Moul DJ. 2002. MTBE toxicity tests-(impacts on some terrestrial organisms). Environment Canada, Pacific Environmental Sciences Centre, North Vancouver, BC.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 1984. Earthworm toxicity tests, guideline for testing of chemicals. Guideline 207, Paris, France.
International Organization for Standardization. 1999. Soil quality-Inhibition of reproduction of Collembola (Folsomia candida) by soil pollutants. ISO 11267:1999. Geneva, Switzerland.
ESG International Inc. and Aquaterra Environmental Consulting. 2003. Assessment of the biological test methods for terrestrial arthropods: further refinement of the Collembola test method using Onychiurus folsomi. Environmental Technology Centre, Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON.
Stephenson GL, Koper N, Atkinson GF, Solomon KR, Scroggins RP. 2000. Use of nonlinear regression techniques for describing concentration-response relationships of plant species exposed to contaminated site soils. Environ Toxicol Chem 19: 2968-2981.
Appicella B, Di Palma TM, Wang X, Vellota R, Armenante M, Spinelli N. 2006. A mass spectrometric study of gasoline anti-knocking additives Part 1: Electron impact ionization and fragmentation process for MTBE. Int J Mass Spectrom 262: 105-113.
Aguilar H, Kander RG. 2000. Fuel permeation study on various seal materials. SAE Transact 109: 503-512.
Lyman WJ, Reehl WF, Rosenblatt DH. 1990. Handbook of Chemical Property Estimation Methods: Environmental Behavior of Organic Compounds. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC.
Greenslade P, Vaughan G. 2003. A comparison of Collembola species for toxicity testing of Australian soils. Pedobiologia 47: 171-179.