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Sensitivity of the Endogeic Tropical Earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus to the Presence of Heavy Crude Oil

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Abstract

Contamination of soil with petroleum is common in oil-producing areas across the tropical regions of the world. There is limited knowledge on the sensitivity of endogeic tropical earthworms to the contamination of soil with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) present in crude oil. Pontoscolex corethrurus is a dominant species in tropical agroecosystems around oil-processing facilities. The sensitivity of P. corethrurus to soil artificially contaminated with “Maya” Mexican heavy crude oil was investigated through avoidance and acute ecotoxicity tests, using the following measured concentrations: 0 (reference soil), 551, 969, 4845, 9991 and 14,869 mg/kg. The avoidance test showed that P. corethrurus displayed a significant avoidance behavior to heavy crude oil at a concentration of 9991 mg/kg or higher. In contrast, acute toxicity tests indicate that the median lethal concentration (LC50) was 3067.32 mg/kg; however, growth (weight loss) was more sensitive than mortality. Our study revealed that P. corethrurus is sensitive to TPH, thus highlighting the importance of P. corethrurus for petroleum ecotoxicological tests.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Rafael Ramos Morales for helpful discussion and Alejandro Castro-Luna for support in the statistical analysis. This research work was provided by the PRODEP-SEP (CA-UVER-173 and CA-UVER-332) and Mexican CONACYT (CB-2007-01/83600). We also two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and careful revision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada (INBIOTECA), Universidad Veracruzana, Av. de las Culturas Veracruzanas 101. Col. E. Zapata, 91090, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    María del Carmen Cuevas-Díaz, Sergio Martínez-Hernández & Angel I. Ortíz-Ceballos

  2. Facultad de Ingeniería en Sistemas de Producción Agropecuaria (FISPA), Universidad Veracruzana, Carretera Costera del Golfo km. 220, Col. Agrícola y Ganadera Michapan, 96100, Acayucan, Veracruz, Mexico

    Dinora Vázquez-Luna

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas Campus Coatzacoalcos, Universidad Veracruzana, Av. Universidad Km 7.5 Col. Santa Isabel, 96538, Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico

    María del Carmen Cuevas-Díaz & Oswaldo Guzmán-López

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  1. María del Carmen Cuevas-Díaz
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  2. Dinora Vázquez-Luna
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  3. Sergio Martínez-Hernández
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  4. Oswaldo Guzmán-López
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  5. Angel I. Ortíz-Ceballos
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Correspondence to Angel I. Ortíz-Ceballos.

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del Carmen Cuevas-Díaz, M., Vázquez-Luna, D., Martínez-Hernández, S. et al. Sensitivity of the Endogeic Tropical Earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus to the Presence of Heavy Crude Oil. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 99, 154–160 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-017-2126-2

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