Multi-element analyses of earthworms for radioecology and ecotoxicology

¹ Environmental and Toxicological Sciences Research Group, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Anagawa 4-9-1, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba 263-8555, Japan
² Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Gakushuin University, Mejiro 1-5-1, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-8588, Japan
³ Laboratory for Ecotoxicology, National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands

Abstract

Earthworms and their growth media were analyzed for 33 elements, including radionuclide related elements such as Cs, Sr and U, in order to obtain basic information on the transfer parameters of the elements. The earthworms analyzed were Eisenia foetida fed in the laboratory by using cotton linters or leaf litter. The concentrations and transfer factors (TFs) of the elements were determined. Relatively high TFs were observed for Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rb, Mo and Cd. The TFs for Al, Sc, Ti, Y, Nb and lanthanide elements were low. The TFs of alkaline elements, K, Rb and Cs, decrease with atomic number. The TFs of Cs were 0.16 for both media. Multi-element analyses could provide much information on the concentration and transfer of elements for earthworms which are one candidate reference organism for environmental radiation protection studies.