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Ecotoxicity of canola and tallow biodiesel blends to selected soil organisms

From National Research Council Canada

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Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. Aquatic and Crop Resource Development
FormatText, Article
Conference35th Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response (AMOP 2012), June 5-7, 2012, Vancouver, B. C., Canada
SubjectEnvironmental contamination; AMOP; accidental release; advanced fuels; aquatic toxicity; biodiesel blends; dehydrogenase activity; deleterious effects; direct contact; dry soil; earthworm Eisenia fetida; ecotoxicity; energy research and development; environmental concerns; fossil fuel resources; lolium perenne; n-Alkanes; petroleum diesel; seedling emergence; soil organisms; toxicity assays; toxicity test
Abstract
In view of depleting fossil fuel resources and environmental concern, biodiesel couldpotentially replace petroleum-derived diesel. Aquatic toxicity of diesel and biodiesel has beenextensively studied over the past decades but little is still known about their toxicity in soilenvironment. The scope of this study was to evaluate the environmental impact of biodiesel,biodiesel blends and petroleum diesel in soil using direct contact toxicity assays. The selectedbiodiesels included canola-source biodiesel (B100 and B20). and tallow-source biodiesel (B100and B20), which were compared to petroleum ultra-low-sulfur based diesel (ULSD). Selectedstandard terrestrial toxicity tests included ryegrass Lolium perenne seedling emergence andgrowth, earthworm Eisenia fetida survival, and soil microbial dehydrogenase activity. Soilcharacterization included the quantification of total extractable materials (corresponding to the n-alkane range of C10-C34). Preliminary results indicate that: 1) canola and tallow B20 biodieselblends were less toxic to earthworm than ULSD; 2) canola and tallow B20 blends had similartoxic effects to ryegrass as ULSD; and 3) petroleum ULSD inhibited the DHA activity at allconcentrations tested, and B20 canola biodiesel had a deleterious effect on the DHA activity atthe lowest nominal loadings tested (1 and 10 ml/kg dry soil). Therefore, this study providesuseful toxicological data for the evaluation of potential adverse impact of biodiesel in theenvironment, such as an accidental release or spill. This project was funded by EnvironmentCanada and Natural Resources Canada and is part of the Advanced Fuels and Technologies forEmissions Reduction (AFTER) Program for energy research and development (PERD).
Publication date
In
  • Proceedings of the 35th Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) Technical Seminar on Environmental Contamination and Response (2012).
LanguageEnglish
NRC numberCPENV180
NPARC number21268502
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Record identifierfde41f6f-35a1-4307-9354-6c8fb88a2102
Record created2013-09-03
Record modified2020-04-21
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