Determination of PNEC for selected decontaminants based on seed germination and vigor indexes of terrestrial plants / Wyznaczenie wartości PNEC dla wybranych odkażalników w oparciu o indeksy kiełkowania i wigoru roślin lądowych

Due to the existing threat of use of CWA, many countries developed special chemical formulations dedicated to remove CWA - the so-called military decontaminants. The function of the decontaminant is to neutralize the toxic properties of the contaminant through chemical reactions: oxidation and nucleophilic substitution.

The decontaminants released to the environment may transform to toxic products which have a harmful impact on plants and other soil biota. To evaluate the impact of these chemicals on plants phytotoxicity, early growth tests with Sinapis alba, Lepidium sativum and Sorghum saccharatum were used. Parallely with standard toxkit endpoints (seed germination and root elongation, data not presented here), seed vigor indexes and germination indexes were calculated. GI is a more sensitive endpoint in phytotoxicity testing than SVI. The EC50-72h values based on GI are about 2-3 times lower than those based on SVI. Very low PNEC soil values indicate that wide usage of such compositions in case of CWA release will cause damage to vegetation in the environment.