Toxicity testing of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using Lumistox®

Abstract

Hazard assessment of industrial sites contaminated with coal tar and its products usually focuses on selected pollutants such as the 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) prioritized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). The aim of this study was to investigate to which extent these 16 PAHs contribute to the Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition measured by the acute Lumistox luminescent bacteria test. Five of the 16 PAHs-naphthalene (NAP), acenaphthylene (ACY), acenaphthene (ACE), fluorene (FLU), and phenanthrene (PHE)-revealed inhibiting effects when measuring saturated aqueous solutions of these compounds. However, in elutriates of PAH-contaminated soils, the amount of leached PAHs was very low, and the 16 PAHs did not considerably contribute to the observed bioluminescence inhibition. Nevertheless, bioluminescence inhibition was higher for elutriates with increased PAH concentration indicating the presence of other toxicants that co-occur with the 16 PAHs. No evidence was observed for increased bioluminescence inhibition due to synergistic effects among PAHs as calculated on the basis of toxic units for an aqueous solution containing all 16 priority PAHs. Data suggest that the U.S. EPA PAHs play only a minor role in causing acute toxicity to V. fischeri when exposed to aqueous elutriates of PAH-contaminated soils.

A review on advantages of implementing luminescence inhibition test (Vibrio fischeri) for acute toxicity prediction of chemicals

“…IC T and IT T are luminescence values for control and test samples measured after FT_ minutes exposure time and KF is the correction factor based on the control/ blank. Various researchers have used variable exposure time, e.g., 5 min (DeZwart and Sloof, 1983), 15 min (Rigol et al, 2004), and 30 min (Loibner et al, 2004). The concentration of the toxicant (mg/L) which caused a 50% reduction in light after exposure for FT_ minutes is designated as the EC 50 .…”

Photolysis, oxidation and subsequent toxicity of a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in natural waters

“…Although compared to the mixtures, much lower toxicity values were measured for DBF and FLU as sole components while, higher toxicity was found for DBT as a sole component [27]. Loibner et al [17] found additive bioluminescence inhibition effects to V. fischeri for low molecular weight PAHs acenaphthene (ACE), FLU, phenantherene (PHE), naphthalene, and acenaphthylene. For a mixture of ACE, FLU, PHE, and pyrene, Swartz et al [33] observed antagonistic interactions for the amphipod Rhepoxynius abronius.…”

“…Chemical analysis may be complemented by the application of bioassays that give an integrated measure of toxicity. Non target pollutants as well as reduced availability of toxicants and combined effect such as antagonistic or synergistic interactions are considered when using a biological test system [17].…”

Extracellular Electron Transfer in in situ Petroleum Hydrocarbon Bioremediation

“…Saturated and unsaturated structures composed of hydrogen and carbon make up the largest fraction of organic compounds derived from fossil sources, including crude oil, its derivatives and distillates as well tar oils originating from coal gasification. These are often referred to as petroleum hydrocarbons (Cermak, 2010), also encompassing mono-and polycyclic aromatic structures of environmental and toxicological concern (Loibner et al, 2004).…”