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Interactions between sewage sludge-amended soil and earthworms—comparison between Eisenia fetida and Eisenia andrei composting species

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Abstract

Vermicomposting is an eco-friendly technology, where earthworms are introduced in the waste, inter alia sewage sludge, to cooperate with microorganisms and enhance decomposition of organic matter. The main aims of the present study was to determine the influence of two different earthworm species, Eisenia fetida and Eisenia andrei, on the changes of selected metallic trace elements content in substratum during vermicomposting process using three different sewage sludge mainly differentiated by their metal contents. Final vermicompost has shown a slight reduction in Cd, Cu, Ni, and Pb, while the Zn concentration tends to increase. Accumulation of particular heavy metals in earthworms’ bodies was assessed. Both species revealed high tendency to accumulate Cd and Zn, but not Cu, Ni, and Pb, but E. andrei has higher capabilities to accumulate some metals. Riboflavin content, which content varies depending on metal pollution in several earthworms species, was measured supravitaly in extruded coelomocytes. Riboflavin content decreased slightly during the first 6 weeks of exposure and subsequently restored till the end of the 9-week experiment. Selected agronomic parameters have also been measured in the final product (vermicompost) to assess the influence of earthworms on substratum.

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Acknowledgements

The project was financed with National Center for Science grant based on DEC-2013/09/N/NZ9/01937, by K/ZDS/001955 from the Jagiellonian University, the French Agence National de la Recherche, and by BS PB/401/304/11 and BS MN/401/304/12 from Czestochowa University of Technology (CUT). H. Suleiman was supported by Syrian Ministry of Higher Education. A. Rorat was supported by a doctoral fellowship from Lille 1 University and CUT. Agnieszka Rorat is a beneficient of the project “DoktoRIS – Scholarship Program for Innovative Silesia” funded by the European Union.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Engineering, Czestochowa University of Technology, ul. Brzeznicka 60a, 42-200, Czestochowa, Poland

    Agnieszka Rorat, Anna Grobelak, Anna Grosser & Małgorzata Kacprzak

  2. Université Lille Nord de France, LGCgE-Lille 1, Ecologie Numérique et Ecotoxicologie, F-59650, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France

    Agnieszka Rorat, Hanine Suleiman & Franck Vandenbulcke

  3. Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland

    Barbara Płytycz

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  1. Agnieszka Rorat
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  2. Hanine Suleiman
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  3. Anna Grobelak
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  4. Anna Grosser
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Correspondence to Agnieszka Rorat.

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Rorat, A., Suleiman, H., Grobelak, A. et al. Interactions between sewage sludge-amended soil and earthworms—comparison between Eisenia fetida and Eisenia andrei composting species. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 3026–3035 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5635-8

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