Comparative chronic toxicity of homo- and heterocyclic aromatic compounds to benthic and terrestrial invertebrates: Generalizations and exceptions

Abstract

Comparative chronic toxicity of homo-and heterocyclic aromatic compounds to benthic and terrestrial invertebrates: Generalizations and exceptions Leon Paumen, M.; de Voogt, W.P.; van Gestel, C.A.M.; Kraak, M.H.S. General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. The aim of the present study was to elucidate consistent patterns in chronic polycyclic aromatic compound (PAC) toxicity to soil and sediment inhabiting invertebrates. Therefore we examined our experimental dataset, consisting of twenty-one chronic effect concentrations for two soil invertebrates (Folsomia candida and Enchytraeus cripticus) and two sediment invertebrates (Lumbriculus variegatus and Chironomus riparius) exposed to six PACs (two homocyclic isomers, anthracene and phenanthrene; two azaarene isomers: acridine and phenanthridine; and two azaarene transformation products, acridone and phenanthridone). In order to determine if effect concentrations were accurately predicted by existing toxicity-K ow relationships describing narcosis, chronic pore water effect concentrations were plotted jointly against logK ow . Fifteen of the twentyone effect concentrations (71%) were above the lower limit for narcosis, showing that narcosis was the main mode of action for the majority of the tested homo-and heterocyclic PACs during chronic exposure. Toxicity of all tested compounds to soil organisms was accurately described by the toxicity-K ow relationship. However, for the sediment invertebrates exposed to some of the tested heterocyclic PACs deviations from narcosis were identified, related to specific physicochemical properties of the test compounds and/or species specific sensitivities. It is concluded that existing toxicity-K ow relationships describing narcosis in some cases underestimate chronic PAC toxicity to sediment inhabiting invertebrates.

Toxicity and bioaccumulation of phenanthrene inEnchytraeus albidus(Oligochaeta: Enchytraeidae)

“…Nevertheless, they found an exception in an enchytraeid species (E. crypticus), where the median lethal concentration was higher than expected [12]. Critical body residues (Table 1) in E. albidus estimated using the BAF of 19.5 kg soil/kg fresh weight organism (Table 2) are in agreement with the critical body residue levels reported in the literature for chemicals with a narcotic mode of action (typically 2-8 mmol/kg [31,32]) suggesting that PHE is acting as a narcotic chemical also in enchytraeids.…”

“…Paumen and co-authors [12] showed that narcosis was the main mode of action for most of the PAHs, including PHE [23]. Nevertheless, they found an exception in an enchytraeid species (E. crypticus), where the median lethal concentration was higher than expected [12].…”

“…Enchytraeus crypticus is known for its low sensitivity to organic compounds compared with the springtail F. candida [12]. The PAHs appear to be metabolized by collembolans and isopods [12][13][14], but less efficiently by earthworms [14]. For this reason, enchytraeids, being closely related to lumbricids, are expected to have low capacity for biotransforming PAHs.…”

Uptake and toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in terrestrial springtails—studying bioconcentration kinetics and linking toxicity to chemical activity

“…Naphthalene, anthracene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, and benzo[a]pyrene were selected as test compounds to cover a wide range of physicochemical properties (Table 1). Anthracene was used instead of phenanthrene due to its low a max (Table 1), since results from several studies have shown that only PAHs exceeding a certain a max can exert acute toxicity [11,[18][19][20]. Phenanthrene and anthracene are isomers with very similar partitioning and diffusion properties, and the bioconcentration is therefore expected to be rather similar for these two PAHs.…”

Effects of global change during the 21st century on the nitrogen cycle

“…Nevertheless, the effects of ON on the surface ocean are unclear due to the large uncertainty in the sources and magnitudes of deposition. Even less is known about the potential human and ecosystem toxicity of ON (Paumen et al, 2009).…”