Bioaccumulation and toxicity of terbuthylazine in earthworms (Eisenia fetida).

Terbuthylazine is an effective and widely used s-triazine herbicide. However, limited data exists on its toxicity and bioaccumulation in earthworms (Eisenia fetida). In this study, we investigated the bioaccumulation, antioxidant enzyme activity, detoxification enzyme activity, and DNA damage in earthworms when exposed to terbuthylazine. The results indicated that terbuthylazine in soil had low bioaccumulation in earthworms and the biota-soil accumulation factors of terbuthylazine declined with an increasing soil terbuthylazine concentration. In the enzyme activity assays, the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities showed upward trends when compared with the control. The carboxylesterase (CarE) activity increased on day 21. The 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) content, a DNA damage bioindicator, was higher than that of the control on day 21. Combined with the integrated biological response index version 2 analysis, these results can provide a comprehensive evaluation of the toxicological effects that terbuthylazine has on earthworms and soil ecosystems.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Li Shun reports financial support was provided by Safety Evaluation Center of Shenyang SYRICI Test Co. Ltd.
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