Differences in p, p′-DDE bioaccumulation from compost and soil by the plants Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbita maxima and the earthworms Eisenia fetida and Lumbricus terrestris

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) 2007-07, Vol.148 (2), p.539-545
• Main Authors: Peters, Richard, Kelsey, Jason W., White, Jason C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Bioaccumulation; Bioavailability; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Availability; Biomass; Compost; Cucurbita; Cucurbita - metabolism; Cucurbita maxima; Cucurbita pepo; Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene - analysis; Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene - pharmacokinetics; Earthworm; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Eisenia fetida; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Insecticides - analysis; Insecticides - pharmacokinetics; Lumbricus terrestris; Oligochaeta - metabolism; p, p′-DDE; Plant Roots - metabolism; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soil Pollutants - pharmacokinetics; Species Specificity
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2006.11.030

Two plant species, Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbita maxima, and two earthworm species, Eisenia fetida and Lumbricus terrestris, were exposed to soil and compost with equivalent p, p′-DDE contamination. Pollutant bioconcentration was equal in plant roots in both media, but translocation was higher in C. pepo. Bioaccumulation by E. fetida was approximately 6- and 3-fold higher than that by L. terrestris in the soil and compost, respectively. For all species, p, p′-DDE uptake was significantly greater from soil than from compost; 7- to 8-fold higher for plant roots and 3- to 7-fold higher for worms. Abiotic desorption from soil was approximately twice that from the compost. When all the data are normalized for organic-carbon content of the media, the contaminant is more tightly bound by soil than compost. Although the risk associated with p, p′-DDE is higher in soil than compost, important mechanistic differences exist in contaminant binding to organic carbon in the two media. Availability of p, p′-DDE to earthworms and plants was dramatically different in soil and compost.