Exposure to aged crumb rubber reduces survival time during a stress test in earthworms (Eisenia fetida)

Abstract

Solid waste management struggles with the sustainable disposal of used tires. One solution involves shredding used tires into crumb rubber and using the material as infill for artificial turf. However, crumb rubber contains hydrocarbons, organic compounds, and heavy metals, and it travels into the environment. Earthworms living in soil contaminated with virgin crumb rubber gained 14% less body weight than did earthworms living in uncontaminated soil, but the impact of aged crumb rubber on the earthworms is unknown. Since many athletic fields contain aged crumb rubber, we compared the body weight, survivorship, and longevity in heat and light stress for earthworms living in clean topsoil to those living in topsoil contaminated with aged crumb rubber. We also characterized levels of metals, nutrients, and micronutrients of both soil treatments and compared those to published values for soil contaminated with virgin crumb rubber. Consistent with earlier research, we found that contaminated soil did not inhibit microbial respiration rates. Aged crumb rubber, like new crumb rubber, had high levels of zinc. However, while exposure to aged crumb rubber did not reduce earthworm body weight as did exposure to new crumb rubber, exposure to aged crumb rubber reduced earthworm survival time during a stress test by a statistically significant 38 min (16.2%) relative to the survival time for worms that had lived in clean soil. Aged crumb rubber and new crumb rubber appear to pose similar toxic risks to earthworms. This study suggests an environmental cost associated with the current tire-recycling solution.

Ecotoxicology of micronized tire rubber: Past, present and future considerations

“…Earthworms were similarly not affected in regard to survival or ability to cope with light or heat stress, but a 14% reduction in growth was observed after 33 days (Pochron et al, 2017). Exposing E. fetida to aged crumb rubber however, showed a decrease in survival time (16.2 %) under acute stress tests, but showed no effects on growth (Pochron et al, 2018). In some instances it seems that worn tires and their particulates exhibit greater toxicity compared to their pristine counterparts (Day et al, 1993;Pochron et al, 2018).…”

“…Exposing E. fetida to aged crumb rubber however, showed a decrease in survival time (16.2 %) under acute stress tests, but showed no effects on growth (Pochron et al, 2018). In some instances it seems that worn tires and their particulates exhibit greater toxicity compared to their pristine counterparts (Day et al, 1993;Pochron et al, 2018).…”

“…Few authors have also studied the effect of whole tires (Kellough, 1991;Day et al, 1993;Abernethy, 1994) and more recently research on effects of TWP have emerged (Redondo-Hasselerharm et al, 2018a;Khan et al, 2019). In addition, few articles on terrestrial ecotoxicology on the use of crumb rubber from artificial turf have been published (Pochron et al, 2017(Pochron et al, , 2018.…”

Time-Dependent Toxicity of Tire Particles on Soil Nematodes

“…mixtures. However, several studies directly applied acid-based extraction procedures (e.g., HNO 3 treatment) to quantify total chemical concentration in test media (Camponelli et al, 2009;Pochron et al, 2017;Pochron et al, 2018;Redondo-Hasselerharm et al, 2018). Although they observed high levels of target chemicals, their toxic potential is likely overestimated since strong acid treatment induces particle damage and chemical leaching (Vandermeersch et al, 2015).…”

“…Recently, research moved from leachate-induced toxicity to particulate-induced toxicity because the ingestion and gut retention of tire particles have emerged as a crucial aspect (Halle et al, 2020). Tire particles induce toxicity on freshwater crustaceans (Redondo-Hasselerharm et al, 2018;Khan et al, 2019) and terrestrial organisms such as earthworms and plants (Leifheit et al, 2021;Pochron et al, 2017;Pochron et al, 2018). In some studies, it seems that tire particles have high toxicity already at low concentration, but there is still a very limited number of studies, especially based on long-term exposure periods (Halle et al, 2020).…”