Ecological Risk Assessment of Contaminants in Soil

About this book

As the discipline of ecotoxicology grows and develops, the concepts and data used are proving increasingly useful in improving the quality of risk assessment of soil pollution by professional scientists in a regulation context as well as in research. This book illustrates how the strengthening scientific basis for the ecotoxicological approach is helping substantially in environmental policy decision making.

Contents

Ecological approaches in soil ecotoxicology. Extrapolation from experiments. Scientific basis for extrapolating results from soil ecotoxicity tests to field conditions and the use of bioassays. Is it possible to develop microbial test systems to evaluate pollution effects on soil nutrient cycling? Populations in soil. Ecotoxicology, biodiversity and the species concept with special reference to springtails (Insecta: collembola). Effects of toxicants on population and community parameters in field conditions, and their potential use in the validation of risk assessment methods. The soil as an ecosystem. Linking structure and function in marine sedimentary and terrestrial soil ecosystems: implications for extrapolation from the laboratory to the field. A foot-web approach to assess the effects of disturbance on ecosystem structure, function and stability. The spatial component of soil communities. Scale dependency in the ecological risks posed by pollutants: is there a role for ecological theory in risk assessment? Dispersal, heterogeneity, and resistance challenging soil quality assessment. The role of ecological modelling. The use of models in ecological risk assessment. A physiologically driven mathematical simulation model as a tool for extension of results from laboratory tests to ecosystem effects. Ecological approaches: case studies. Extrapolation of laboratory toxicity results to the field - a case study using the OECD artificial soil earthworm toxicity test. Life table study with the springtail Folsomia candida (Willem) exposed to cadmium, chlorpyrifos and triphenyl tin hydroxide. Reaction norms for life-history traits as the basis for the evaluation of critical effect levels of toxicants. Estimating fitness costs of pollution in iteroparous invertebrates. Still new ways to explore or just paving the road. List of workshop participants.

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