title: The response of earthworms (Eisenia fetida) and soil microbes to the crumb rubber material used in artificial turf fields.
abstract: Municipalities have been replacing grass fields with artificial turf, which uses crumb rubber infill made from recycled tires. Crumb rubber contains hydrocarbons, organic compounds, and heavy metals. Water runoff from crumb rubber fields contains heavy metals. These components can damage the environment. We contaminated topsoil with new crumb rubber and measured its impact on earthworms and soil microbes. Specifically, we compared soil microbe activity and earthworm health, survivorship, and longevity in heat and light stress under two soil regimes: clean topsoil and clean topsoil contaminated with crumb rubber. We then characterized levels of metals, nutrients, and micronutrients of both soil treatments and compared those to published New York soil background levels and to levels set by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as remediation goals. We found that: 1) contaminated soil did not inhibit microbial respiration rates, 2) earthworm survivorship was not impacted by exposure to contaminated soil, 3) earthworms' ability to cope with heat and light stress remained unchanged after living in contaminated soil, but 4) earthworms living in contaminated soil gained 14% less body weight than did earthworms living in uncontaminated soil. We also found that, with the exception of zinc, heavy metals in our contaminated soil did not exceed the background levels found throughout New York State or the remediation targets set by the DEC.
authors.affiliation: Sustainability Studies Program, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3435, USA. Electronic address: Sharon.Pochron@stonybrook.edu.
authors.forename: Sharon T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Pochron
authors.affiliation: Sustainability Studies Program, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3435, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fiorenza
authors.affiliation: Miller Place High School, Miller Place, NY 11764, USA.
authors.forename: Cassandra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sperl
authors.affiliation: Miller Place High School, Miller Place, NY 11764, USA.
authors.forename: Brianne
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ledda
authors.affiliation: Sustainability Studies Program, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3435, USA.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lawrence Patterson
authors.affiliation: Sustainability Studies Program, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3435, USA.
authors.forename: Clara C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.affiliation: Miller Place High School, Miller Place, NY 11764, USA.
authors.forename: Wade
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.affiliation: Stony Brook School, Stony Brook, NY 11790, USA.
authors.forename: Yuwan Lisa
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Sustainability Studies Program, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3435, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Panico
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D004777:Environment; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000633:toxicity*; D009518:New York; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry*; D059027:Recycling; D012408:Rubber / Q000737:chemistry*; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D012408:Rubber
keywords: Leachate; Playgrounds; Recycled rubber; Soil invertebrate; Zinc