Extractability of metals and ecotoxicity of soils from two old wood impregnation sites in Finland.

Four metal-contaminated soil samples were classified using physical methods, extracted by selective extraction procedures and analyzed for chemical concentrations. De-ionized water, 0.01 mol/l barium chloride, 1 mol/l ammonium acetate and concentrated nitric acid were used as extraction solutions. Ecotoxicity of water extracts and soil samples was analyzed in order to describe the bioavailability of the contaminants. Samples from old wood impregnation plants contained high amounts of As, Cu, Cr and Zn, which originated from chromated copper arsenate, ammoniacal copper-zinc arsenate, and ammoniacal copper quaternary compound. Total As concentrations of the heavily contaminated samples varied from 752 to 4340 mg/kg, Cu concentrations from 339 to 2330 mg/kg, Cr concentrations from 367 to 2,140 mg/kg and Zn concentrations from 79 to 966 mg/kg. The extractabilities of metals differed according to soil type, extractant and element. Cu and Zn were proposed to cause the highest toxicity in the water extracts of the soils. Ecotoxicity tests displayed rather high differences in sensitivity both for water extracts and for solid soil samples. Reproduction of Enchytraeus sp. was the most sensitive and seed germination of Lactuca sativa the least sensitive and the other tests were in decreasing order of sensitivity: Folsomia candida>reverse electron transport>MetPLATE>Toxichromotest>Allium cepa root growth>Lemna sp. growth. As a conclusion, polluted soils rich in sand retain heavy metals with less firm bindings, particularly in the case of Cu and Zn, than soils rich in clay, indicating that chemical methods for measuring the bioavailability of metals need to be optimized taking into account the soil type, acidity, redox state and the individual contaminants.

Hazardous properties of paint residues from the furniture industry.

The objective of this study was to screen nine excess paint residues for environmental hazard and to evaluate their disposability in a non-hazardous or hazardous-waste landfill. These residues were produced in the process of spray-painting furniture. Residues were classified according to their leaching and ecotoxicological properties. Leaching properties were determined with the European standard SFS-EN 12457-2 leaching-test. The toxicity of the leaching-test eluates was measured with plant-, bacteria- and enzyme-inhibition bioassays. Total organic carbon, formaldehyde and solvent concentrations in the solid wastes and in the leaching-test eluates were analysed. It seemed likely that leached formaldehyde caused very high acute toxicity in leaching-test eluates of the dry-booth residues. This hypothesis was based on the fact that the formaldehyde concentrations in the leaching-test eluates of the dry-booth residues were 62-75 times higher than the EC50 value reported in the literature for formaldehyde. The results of the water-curtain booth residues showed that the samples with the highest TOC and aromatic solvent concentrations were also the most toxic. The studied excess paint residues were complex organic mixtures and contained large amounts of compounds not identifiable from chemical data. Therefore, the evaluation of the hazard based solely on available chemical data is unlikely to be sufficient, as evidenced by our study. Our results show that harmful compounds remain in the solid waste and the toxicity results of their leaching-test eluates show that toxicity may leach from residues in contact with water at landfill sites. They also confirm the benefit of combining chemical and ecotoxicological assays in assessing the potential environmental hazard of complex organic mixtures found in wastes.

Toxicity of industrial wastes and waste leaching test eluates containing organic compounds.

Leaching tests, CEN prEN 12457-2, CEN PrEN 12457-3, and NEN 7349, were conducted for varnish residue and urea resin waste, two industrial wastes containing organic chemicals. The leaching test eluates were analyzed for solvent concentrations and total organic carbon. Aqueous leaching tests were found to be suitable for both chemical and biological testing. Ecotoxicity was assessed by luminescent bacteria, plant root growth, reverse electron transport, and ToxiChromopad. The eluates were highly toxic but the toxicity decreased in later stages of the multistep leaching test (NEN 7349). Urea resin eluates were significantly less toxic than varnish residue eluates. The solid wastes markedly inhibited plant seed germination before and after the leaching test (CEN prEN 12457-3). The solid wastes were not biologically degradable in the standard test (ISO 14593), whereas the eluates from the CEN prEN 12457-3 test degraded slowly.

Evaluation of wastewater effluents by small-scale biotests and a fractionation procedure.

Municipal and industrial effluents were screened with a battery of biotests and with a modified toxicity identification evaluation Phase I procedure. The acute toxicities of the effluent samples were low and the submitochondrial reverse electron-transport (RET) test was the most sensitive toxicity test. Estrogenic effects were found in almost all effluent samples, and genotoxicity was detected in one concentrated effluent sample. The fractionation methods we used proved to be especially effective at tracking toxicity caused by metals and organic contaminants, with the RET test being particularly suited to evaluating pH-dependent toxicity. The used solid-phase extraction columns with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic binding properties turned out to be suitable for removing or reducing organic toxicity-causing substances from the effluent samples. The results of this study show that the use of only conventional acute toxicity tests for effluent assessment will not be sufficient-the genotoxic, hormonal, and even bioaccumulative potential of the effluents and effluent fractions should be evaluated as well.