Abstract
Remediation programmes are considered complete when human risk-based criteria are met. These targets are unrelated to the ecological parameters that may be important with regard to future soil uses. As a consequence, there has been a move towards the consideration of biological indicators for hazard assessment in conjunction with the remediation of contaminated soils. This study uses a range of biological assays to assess the ecological health of soils from a former gas works site undergoing various remediation treatments. The indicators that optimally differentiated the extent of soil remediation were biomass-C, respiration, dehydrogenase activity, earthworm toxicity and mustard seed germination. Although they had different end-points, once robust and sensitive biological indicators were incorporated into a quantitative soil quality index, they gave a clearer representation of ecological health than chemical data alone by their integration of contamination effects at a number of trophic levels.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 164-177 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Soil Biology and Biochemistry |
Volume | 39 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 14 Aug 2006 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2007 |
Keywords
- hydrocarbons
- biological indicators
- remediation
- soil quality index
- polycyclic aromatic-hydrocarbons
- direct extraction method
- microbial biomass-C
- contaminated soil
- heavy-metals
- biochemical-properties
- ecotoxicity assessment
- catabolic diversity
- forest soils
- diesel fuel