ECOTOXIC ASSESSMENT OF SOILS CONTAMINATED WITH MUNICIPAL WASTE FROM A DUMP IN Eisenia fetida

An ecotoxic evaluation of soils contaminated with municipal waste from a dump on The earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826) was carried out. E. fetida was exposed to five soil samples contaminated by municipal waste from the Pampa Calanguillo landfill, Lima, Peru. Each sample was evaluated in six concentrations of contaminated soil from the dump and in a corresponding control treatment to an substratum to evaluate its ecotoxic effect. The lethal effect evaluated was the lethality mortality, and the sublethal effects were five: fragmentation, thinning, darkening, mean weight and mean length at 7 and 14 days of exposure. The soils were evaluated for their physical-chemical properties, heavy metals and hydrocarbons. The soils presented lethal toxicity based on E. fetida, where the level of affectation predominated in the soils with the highest presence of metals and hydrocarbons. The most frequent sublethal effects were thinning and wet and dry mean weight, while fragmentation and darkening were evidenced at the highest concentrations. The mean length reduction mostly did not show significant differences between the concentrations used. It is concluded that there is a lethal and sublethal ecotoxic effect in E. fetida in soils contaminated by municipal waste.