Bioassays for the ecotoxicological and genotoxicological assessment of contaminated soils (results of a round robin test). Part 1: Assessment of a possible groundwater contamination

For the assessment of contaminated or remediated soils, in addition to chemical analyses, ecotoxicological tests are performed which focus on the retention function of soils (determined by tests with aqueous soil extracts) and on the habitat function (determined by tests with soil). While numerous standardized test guidelines exist to investigate effects by chemical substances, respective test procedures for soil assessments are lacking. To close this gap, a round robin test was performed to support standardization. Four contaminated soils were tested using a total of fifteen test systems including ecotoxicological and genotoxicological tests with soil extracts and soil. The results obtained from the test with soil extracts are presented in this article.