Toxicity assessment of compounds in soil using a simple respirometric technique

A laboratory procedure using a simple respirometric technique was evaluated to determine the microbial toxicity in soil of three toxicant compounds: two pesticides, chlorpyrifos and glyphosate; and diesel oil. The microbial toxicity was tested using the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) method, evaluating the soil samples for both the reduction in maximum SOUR (SOURmax) and the cumulative oxygen demands after 20 h (OD20). Consumption rate curves were produced for the lowest concentrations assessed: diesel (2460 ppm), chlorpyrifos (62.5 ppm), and glyphosate (250 ppm) (limiting amounts considered as local soil contamination). In comparison with the control, these showed drastic reductions in SOURmax, demonstrating the high sensitivity of this SOUR method. The SOURmax provides a better indication of the microbial toxicity of these contaminants compared to the OD20 because of the different effects of these toxic compounds on microbial communities in the soil. Increasing concentrations of these toxic compounds resulted in different responses, evaluated as percentage inhibition by these different xenobiotic compounds. For these reasons, the microbial toxicity of xenobiotic compounds can be better recognized with SOURmax as compared to other respirometric methodologies.