title: Assessing the impact of organic and inorganic amendments on the toxicity and bioavailability of a metal-contaminated soil to the earthworm Eisenia andrei.
abstract: Metal-contaminated soil, from the El Arteal mining district (SE Spain), was remediated with organic (6% compost) and inorganic amendments (8% marble sludge) to reduce the mobility of metals and to modify its potential environmental impact. Different measures of metal bioavailability (chemical analysis; survival, growth, reproduction and bioaccumulation in the earthworm Eisenia andrei), were tested in order to evaluate the efficacy of organic and inorganic amendments as immobilizing agents in reducing metal (bio)availability in the contaminated soil. The inorganic amendment reduced water and CaCl2-extractable concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn, while the organic amendment increased these concentrations compared to the untreated soil. The inorganic treatment did not significantly reduce toxicity for the earthworm E. andrei after 28 days exposure. The organic amendment however, made the metal-contaminated soil more toxic to the earthworms, with all earthworms dying in undiluted soil and completely inhibiting reproduction at concentrations higher than 25%. This may be due to increased available metal concentrations and higher electrical conductivity in the compost-amended soil. No effects of organic and inorganic treatments on metal bioaccumulation in the earthworms were found and metal concentrations in the earthworms increased with increasing total soil concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Area de Edafología y Química Agrícola. Departamento de Agronomía, Universidad de Almería CITEII-B, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario, ceiA3. La Cañada de San Urbano S/N, 04120, Almería, Spain, vga220@ual.es.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Díez-Ortiz
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simón
authors.forename: Cornelis A M
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: van Gestel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D008670:Metals / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D008906:Mining; D009835:Oligochaeta; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D012722:Sewage; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants