Chronic and reproductive toxicity of cadmium, zinc, and lead in binary and tertiary mixtures to the earthworm (Eisenia fetida)

Ayanka Wijayawardena, M. A.; Megharaj, Mallavarapu; Naidu, Ravi; Stojanovski, Elizabeth

doi:10.1007/s11368-017-1877-z

Soils, Sec 4 • Ecotoxicology • Research Article
Published: 24 November 2017

Chronic and reproductive toxicity of cadmium, zinc, and lead in binary and tertiary mixtures to the earthworm (Eisenia fetida)

M. A. Ayanka Wijayawardena ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2912-0968^1,2,
Mallavarapu Megharaj^1,2,
Ravi Naidu^1,2 &
Elizabeth Stojanovski³

Journal of Soils and Sediments volume 18, pages 1602–1609 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Purpose

The presence of one metal can alter the toxicity of another metal by having an additive, synergistic, or antagonistic impact. Mixed metal pollution has clear ecological consequences. The importance of use of earthworms for ecological health monitoring is recognized widely. This study investigated the effect of binary and tertiary metal mixtures on the toxicity, bioaccumulation, and reproduction of the Eisenia fetida in different South Australian soils.

Materials and methods

The end points used in this 56-day reproduction study were avoidance behavior, worm mortality, weight loss, reproduction, and metal (Cd, Zn, and Pb) bioaccumulation. The three soils (acidic, neutral, and alkaline) were spiked with selected binary and tertiary concentration mixtures that considered the soil quality guideline values, EC₅₀ and LC₅₀ values for Cd, Zn, and Pb obtained from the previous single metal earthworm experiments done by the authors.

Results and discussion

In acidic soil, Zn and Cd constituted the most toxic metal combination to earthworms. However, in contrast to this observation, the same metal combination was the least toxic one to earthworms in neutral and alkaline soils. For Zn and Pb spiked soils, relationships between soil and internal metal concentrations were found with R ² = 0.63, r = 0.8, and R ² = 0.94, p < 0.01, respectively, for Zn and Pb. This study indicates that earthworms have high tendency to bioaccumulate heavy metals in their tissues and hence serves as ecological indicators of soil heavy metal contamination. The highest bioaccumulation factor (0–9) was evident for Cd in contaminated soils. This study demonstrated the role of soil edaphic factors and metal-metal interactions in the toxicity of metal mixtures to E. fetida.

Conclusions

In Zn and Pb binary mixture spiked acidic soil, mortality of 60% was recorded even when the Pb and Zn concentrations were below the Canada and Dutch EIL (ecological investigational levels) values. This indicates the current guideline values are not safe for mixed metal toxicity. Therefore, care must be taken when predicting metal toxicities in mixed metal contaminated soils.

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Acknowledgements

All the authors would like to thank C. Danidu Kudagamage for helping with the earthworm experiments.

Funding

This study was funded through a CRCCARE postgraduate scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), ATC Building, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia
M. A. Ayanka Wijayawardena, Mallavarapu Megharaj & Ravi Naidu
Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia
M. A. Ayanka Wijayawardena, Mallavarapu Megharaj & Ravi Naidu
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia
Elizabeth Stojanovski

Authors

M. A. Ayanka Wijayawardena
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Mallavarapu Megharaj
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Ravi Naidu
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Elizabeth Stojanovski
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Correspondence to M. A. Ayanka Wijayawardena.

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Responsible editor: Sung-Eun Lee

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Ayanka Wijayawardena, M.A., Megharaj, M., Naidu, R. et al. Chronic and reproductive toxicity of cadmium, zinc, and lead in binary and tertiary mixtures to the earthworm (Eisenia fetida). J Soils Sediments 18, 1602–1609 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1877-z

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Received: 18 May 2017
Accepted: 17 November 2017
Published: 24 November 2017
Issue Date: April 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1877-z

Keywords

Bioaccumulation
Earthworm
Metal mixtures
Soil guideline value
Toxicity