Ecotoxicity of mercury to Eisenia fetida, Enchytraeus albidus and Folsomiacandida

Despite growing concerns about the potential adverse effects of elevated me rcury concentrations in the environment, only a few toxicity data are avail able for soil invertebrates. The chronic toxicity of mercury (II) was there fore assessed for Eisenia fetida, Enchytraeus albidus and Folsomia candida using standard test protocols. The 21-day EC50 (the concentration causing 5 0% effect) for the cocoon production of E. fetida was 9.16 mg Hg kg(-1) dry wt. Based on the reproduction, a 42-day EC50 of 22.0 mg Hg kg(-1) dry wt w as observed for E. albidus while for F candida the 28-day EC50 was 3.26 (2. 45-4.05) mg Hg kg(-1) dry wt. Although these data can be considered as a st ep forward in the assessment of the potential risks of mercury in terrestri al environments, further research is needed to evaluate the influence of so il parameters on the toxicity of mercury and to quantify the effect of agei ng on the bioavailability.