Abstract
In soil metal ecotoxicology research, dosing is usually performed with metal salts, followed by leaching to remove excess salinity. This process also removes some metals, affecting metal mixture ratios as different metals are removed by leaching at different rates. Consequently, alternative dosing methods must be considered for fixed ratio metal mixture research. In this study three different metal mixture dosing methods (nitrate, oxide and annealed metal dosing) were examined for metal concentrations and toxicity. In the nitrate metal dosing method leaching reduced total metal retention and was affected by soil pH and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Acidic soils 3.22 (pH 3.4, CEC 8 meq/100g) and WTRS (pH 4.6, CEC 16 meq/100g) lost more than 75 and 64% of their total metals to leaching respectively while Elora (6.7 pH, CEC 21 meq/100g) and KUBC (pH 5.6, CEC 28 meq/100g) with higher pH and CEC only lost 13.6% and 12.2% total metals respectively. Metal losses were highest for Ni, Zn and Co (46.0%, 63.7% and 48.4% metal loss respectively) whereas Pb and Cu (5.6% and 20.0% metal loss respectively) were mostly retained, affecting mixture ratios. Comparatively, oxide and annealed metal dosing which do not require leaching had higher total metal concentrations, closer to nominal doses and maintained better mixture ratios (percent of nominal concentrations for the oxide metal dosing were Pb = 109.9%, Cu = 84.6%, Ni = 101.9%, Zn = 82.3% and Co = 97.8% and for the annealed metal dosing were Pb = 81.7%, Cu = 80.3%, Ni = 100.5%, Zn = 89.2% and Co = 101.3%). Relative to their total metal concentrations, nitrate metal dosing (lowest metal concentrations) was the most toxic followed by metal oxides dosing while the annealed dosing method was generally non-toxic. Due to the lack of toxicity of the annealed metals and their higher dosing effort, metal oxides, are the most appropriate of the tested dosing methods, for fixed-ratio metal mixtures studies with soil invertebrates.
Highlights
IntroductionMetal dosing is usually performed using aqueous metal salt solutions in a dilution series [1,2,3,4,5,6]
In soil ecotoxicological research, metal dosing is usually performed using aqueous metal salt solutions in a dilution series [1,2,3,4,5,6]
We considered three different methods for dosing fixed ratio metal mixtures
Summary
Metal dosing is usually performed using aqueous metal salt solutions in a dilution series [1,2,3,4,5,6] This approach allows for a high dosing precision, reduced variability and ease in homogenizing the metals within the soil. Despite these advantages, when dosing with metal salt solutions, salinity may be a cause for concern. In metal mixture studies, looking at specific ratios of different metal elements in the soil, leaching can be disruptive, because different metals are more or less mobile in soil due to differences in soil-metalwater partitioning [16,17,18]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
