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Application of the “ecological dose” concept to the impact of heavy metals on some microbe-mediated ecologic processes in soil

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Abstract

It is suggested that the inhibition of microbe-mediated ecologic processes by pollutants be used to quantitate the sensitivity of natural ecosystems to such toxicants. Such a quantification, expressed as an “ecological dose 50%” (EcD501; other percentages of inhibition could also be used), could be easily incorporated into the methodologies used to set the Water Quality Criteria and the national secondary ambient air quality standards and to establish criteria for terrestrial ecosystems. Furthermore, it would be useful in obtaining the “recommended” ecotoxicologic data required from manufacturers of new chemicals by the Toxic Substances Control Act. The applicability of the EcD50 concept was evaluated by studying the effects of cadmium and zinc on the mineralization of carbon in soil and by adapting published data of other investigators on the effects of different heavy metals on some microbe-mediated ecologic processes (i.e., respiration and nitrification) in soils that differ in physicochemical characteristics.

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Babich, H., Bewley, R.J.F. & Stotzky, G. Application of the “ecological dose” concept to the impact of heavy metals on some microbe-mediated ecologic processes in soil. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 12, 421–426 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01057585

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01057585

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