Nora Kováts
University of Pannonia, Hungary
Title: Adapting the Vegetative Vigour Terrestrial Plant Test for Assessing Ecotoxicity of Aerosol Samples
Biography
Biography: Nora Kováts
Abstract
Atmospheric particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 mm (PM10) and 2.5 mm (PM2.5) is now identified as one of the most dangerous pollutants on human health by the EU new directive on air quality (2008/50/CE). Urban airborne pollution has been well characterised from (human) toxicological aspects, also, the role of plants in active/passive biomonitoring has been extensively investigated. On the contrary, little information is available on the ecotoxicity of airborne pollutants. Ecotoxicological tests are controlled, reproducible experiments where ecotoxicity of the sample is most commonly expressed in the form of ECx value, that is, the (calculated) effective concentration which causes x % of ecological effect. In our study the No. 227 OECD GUIDELINE FOR THE TESTING OF CHEMICALS: Terrestrial Plant Test: Vegetative Vigour Test was investigated to find out if it is applicable for assessing the ecotoxicity of water soluble aerosol compounds. Following the protocol described by the Guideline, Cucumis sativus L. plants were sprayed with the aqueous extract of urban aerosol samples. After the termination of the test, on Day 21, the following end-points were measured: fresh weight, leaf length and visible symptoms. Fresh weight and leaf length did not seem to be negatively affected, the extract even elucidated stimulatory effect at low concentration. On the other hand, the highest concentration applied caused leaf necrosis. This pattern is typically found if the sample contains nutrients which might mask the toxic effect at such low concentrations.