Bio Availability of Polychlorinated Biphenyl Congeners in the Soil to Earthworm (L. rubellus) System

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Abstract
The earthworm's (Lumbricus rubellus) uptake of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from a soil contaminated with a commercial PCB formulation (Askarel at 150 μg g−1) and their elimination of PCBs into a low contaminated soil (15 μg g−1) has been studied. 17 individual congeners were monitored. The uptake and the elimination rate were similar for all PCB congeners notwithstanding their different chloro-substitution pattern which suggested that bioaccumulation of PCBs in earthworms is governed by passive, possibly diffusion controlled processes. The equilibrium state in the three-phase system, soil/soil water/earthworm was reached with a half-time around 3–4 days. The soil to earthworm bioconcentration factor ranged from 4 to 20 for tetra- to octa-chlorinated biphenyls and was weakly depending on the octanol-water partition coefficient: BCF = −(1.3−1.8) × K OW (0.35−0.40).