title: Toxicity of perfluorooctanoic acid towards earthworm and enzymatic activities in soil.
abstract: Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a widespread persistent organic contaminant in the environment that has recently raised much of regulatory and public concern. Therefore, assessment of its ecological risk is a top priority research. Hence, this study investigated the toxicity of PFOA to beneficial microbial processes in the soil such as activities of dehydrogenase, urease and potential nitrification in addition to earthworm survival, weight loss and PFOA bioaccumulation in two contrasting soils. In general, PFOA caused inhibition of all the measured microbial processes in a dose-dependent manner and the inhibition was higher in Williamtown (WT) soil than Edinburgh (EB) soil. Thus, WT soil being sandy in nature with low clay content showed higher PFOA bioavailability and hence showed higher toxicity. There was no mortality in earthworms exposed up to 100 mg PFOA/kilogram soil in both the soils; however, there was a significant weight loss from 25 mg/kg onwards. This study clearly demonstrates that soil contamination of PFOA can lead to adverse effects on soil health.
authors.affiliation: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, People's Republic of China. wenxianghe@nwsuaf.edu.cn.|Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Australia. wenxianghe@nwsuaf.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wenxiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Australia.|Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER) and Co-operative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRCCARE), Faculty of Science and Information Technology, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW2308, Australia.
authors.forename: Mallavarapu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Megharaj
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Australia.|Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER) and Co-operative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRCCARE), Faculty of Science and Information Technology, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW2308, Australia.
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naidu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001682:Biological Availability; D002210:Caprylates / Q000633:toxicity*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000633:toxicity*; D058465:Nitrification; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000187:drug effects*; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000032:analysis*; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D014510:Urease / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002210:Caprylates; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C023036:perfluorooctanoic acid; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D014510:Urease
keywords: Bioaccumulation; Eisenia fetida; Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA); Soil enzymes; Toxicity; Weight loss