Toxicity Comparison of Atrazine on Eisenia Fetida in Artificial Soil and Three Natural Soils

Abstract

As a triazine herbicide, atrazine has been widely used in the world. But with strong stability, atrazine has caused environmental pollution, especially soil pollution. There are many research studies on toxicities of atrazine in artificial soil, however, few studies have focused on the toxicity of atrazine in natural soil environments. In the present study, three kinds of natural soils and artificial soil were selected as test soils to study and compare the acute toxicities and chronic toxicities of atrazine to Eisenia fetida. Acute toxicity of atrazine was determined by filter paper test and soil test. In the chronic toxicity study, the content of reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde and 8-hydroxy deoxyguanosine, the activities of detoxifying enzyme and three antioxidant enzymes in Eisenia fetida were determined at the 14th, 28th, 42nd and 56th day. Through the present study, it was found that the toxicity of atrazine in artificial soil was not representative of its toxicity in natural soils. To be specific, traditional artificial soil testing method may underestimate toxicity of atrazine in red clay and fluvo-aquic soil, but overestimate the toxicity of atrazine in black soil. Among various soil properties, the three indexes of organic carbon, organic matter and sand were most related to the toxicity of atrazine.

Keywords: Acute toxicity, Chronic toxicity, Oxidative stress, 8-hydroxy deoxyguanosine, Integrated biomarker response (IBR) index