Predicting PAH Bioaccumulation and Toxicity in Earthworms Exposed to Manufactured Gas Plant Soils with Solid-Phase Microextraction

摘要

Soils from former manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites are often heavily contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Current risk assessment methods that rely on total PAH concentrations likely overstate adverse effects of such soils since bioavailability is ignored. In this study, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was applied to estimate bioavailable PAH concentrations and toxicity in earthworms exposed to 15 MGP soils. In addition, PAH sorption to all soils (K_(oc) values) was determined.