Phytotoxicity and uptake of nitroglycerin in a natural sandy loam soil

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2011-11, Vol.409 (24), p.5284-5291
• Main Authors: Rocheleau, Sylvie, Kuperman, Roman G., Dodard, Sabine G., Sarrazin, Manon, Savard, Kathleen, Paquet, Louise, Hawari, Jalal, Checkai, Ronald T., Thiboutot, Sonia, Ampleman, Guy, Sunahara, Geoffrey I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: alfalfa; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; bioaccumulation factor; Biological and medical sciences; Biotransformation; cell culture; confidence interval; Echinochloa - drug effects; Echinochloa - growth & development; Echinochloa crus-galli; Echinochloa crusgalli; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on plants and fungi; explosives; Exposure; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Lolium - drug effects; Lolium - growth & development; Lolium perenne; Medicago sativa; Medicago sativa - drug effects; Medicago sativa - growth & development; Nitroglycerin; Nitroglycerin - pharmacokinetics; Nitroglycerin - toxicity; phytotoxicity; plant growth; Plant Roots - drug effects; Plant Roots - growth & development; Plant Shoots - drug effects; Plant Shoots - growth & development; Plant toxicity; Plants (organisms); risk assessment; Roots; Sandy loam; sandy loam soils; Sassafras; seedling emergence; shoots; Silicon Dioxide; Soil; Soil (material); Soil Pollutants - pharmacokinetics; Soil Pollutants - toxicity; soil pollution; Toxicity; transgenic plants; Uptake; Uptakes
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.08.067

Nitroglycerin (NG) is widely used for the production of explosives and solid propellants, and is a soil contaminant of concern at some military training ranges. NG phytotoxicity data reported in the literature cannot be applied directly to development of ecotoxicological benchmarks for plant exposures in soil because they were determined in studies using hydroponic media, cell cultures, and transgenic plants. Toxicities of NG in the present studies were evaluated for alfalfa (Medicago sativa), barnyard grass (Echinochloa crusgalli), and ryegrass (Lolium perenne) exposed to NG in Sassafras sandy loam soil. Uptake and degradation of NG were also evaluated in ryegrass. The median effective concentration values for shoot growth ranged from 40 to 231mgkg−1 in studies with NG freshly amended in soil, and from 23 to 185mgkg−1 in studies with NG weathered-and-aged in soil. Weathering-and-aging NG in soil did not significantly affect the toxicity based on 95% confidence intervals for either seedling emergence or plant growth endpoints. Uptake studies revealed that NG was not accumulated in ryegrass but was transformed into dinitroglycerin in the soil and roots, and was subsequently translocated into the ryegrass shoots. The highest bioconcentration factors for dinitroglycerin of 685 and 40 were determined for roots and shoots, respectively. Results of these studies will improve our understanding of toxicity and bioconcentration of NG in terrestrial plants and will contribute to ecological risk assessment of NG-contaminated sites. ► Phytotoxicity of NG was determined for three species in a natural sandy loam soil. ► Shoot growth (dry mass) EC50 values for NG ranged from 23 to 231mgkg−1. ► Dinitroglycerin (DNG), but not NG, was accumulated in ryegrass. ► BCF values for DNG were 685 and 40 in roots and shoots, respectively.