Bioavailability and toxicity of pyrene in soils upon biochar and compost addition

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Authors

BIELSKÁ Lucie KAH Mélanie Marie SIGMUND Gabriel HOFMANN Thilo HOSS Sebastian

Year of publication 2017
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Science of the Total Environment
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717307611?via%3Dihub
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.03.230
Keywords Biochar; Compost; Nematodes; Pyrene toxicity; Solid-phase microextraction; Sorption
Description The study investigates the role of biochar and/or compost in mitigating the toxic effects of pyrene in soils using reproduction of nematodes and porewater concentration as measures of pyrene toxicity and bioavailability, respectively. Two soils were spiked with increasing levels of pyrene to achieve a concentration-response relationship for the reproduction of Caenorhabditis elegans. The observed EC50 values (pyrene concentration causing 50% inhibition of reproduction) were 14mg/kg and 31mg/kg (drymass) for these soils, corresponding to equilibrium porewater concentrations of 37 mu g/L and 47 mu g/L, respectively. Differences in organic carbon content were not sufficient to explain the variability in toxicity between the different soils. Soils causing a significant inhibition of reproduction were further amended with 10%-compost, 5%-biochar, or both, and the effects on reproduction and porewater concentration determined. Combined addition of compost and biochar was identified as the most effective strategy in reducing pyrene concentration in soil porewater, which was also partly reflected in soil toxicity. However, porewater concentrations predicted only 52% of pyrene toxicity to nematodes, pointing to particle-bound or dietary exposure pathways. Capsule: Amending pyrene-spiked soil with biochar and compost effectively reduced pyrene porewater concentrations and toxicity to nematodes, which were significantly related.
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