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Risk assessment of petroleum-contaminated soil using soil enzyme activities and genotoxicity to Vicia faba

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Abstract

Pollution caused by petroleum is one of the most serious problems worldwide. To better understand the toxic effects of petroleum-contaminated soil on the microflora and phytocommunity, we conducted a comprehensive field study on toxic effects of petroleum contaminated soil collected from the city of Daqing, an oil producing region of China. Urease, protease, invertase, and dehydrogenase activity were significantly reduced in microflora exposed to contaminated soils compared to the controls, whereas polyphenol oxidase activity was significantly increased (P < 0.05). Soil pH, electrical conductivity, and organic matter content were correlated with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) and a correlation (P < 0.01) existed between the C/N ratio and TPHs. Protease, invertase and catalase were correlated with TPHs. The Vicia faba micronucleus (MN) test, chromosome aberrant (CA) analyses, and the mitotic index (MI) were used to detect genotoxicity of water extracts of the soil. Petroleum-contaminated samples indicated serious genotoxicity to plants, including decreased index level of MI, increased frequency of MN and CA. The combination of enzyme activities and genotoxicity test via Vicia faba can be used as an important indicator for assessing the impact of TPH on soil ecosystem.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Richard S Halbrook and Dr. JiDong Gu for their invaluable assistance in reviewing the manuscript. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31170479), Programs for Science and Technology Development of Heilongjiang Province, China (Grant No. GC12B304), and Aid program for Science and Technology Innovative Research Team in Higher Educational Institutions of Heilongjiang Province (2010TD10) and Harbin Normal University (KJTD2011-2).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Molecular and Cytogenetics, Heilongjiang Province, College of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, 150025, China

    Jun Ma, Jinglong Shen, Qingxing Liu, Fang Fang, Hongsheng Cai & Changhong Guo

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  1. Jun Ma
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  2. Jinglong Shen
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  3. Qingxing Liu
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Correspondence to Changhong Guo.

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Ma, J., Shen, J., Liu, Q. et al. Risk assessment of petroleum-contaminated soil using soil enzyme activities and genotoxicity to Vicia faba . Ecotoxicology 23, 665–673 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1196-8

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