Similar to soil microflora, soil-living animals are in direct contact with the soil and potential contaminants in the soil for most of their lives. Soil nematodes (Nematoda) and earthworms (Lumbricidae) will be used as model organisms for this research.
It is these two groups of soil organisms that play an irreplaceable role in the soil environment because of their involvement in the decomposition of organic matter, the transformation of nutrients and energy in soil.
The ability of organisms (soil microflora) to accumulate and possibly transform or degrade contaminants of interest is observed by monitoring changes in activity of these organisms. Another aspect of interest is the complex biochemical and physiological response of these animals to the entry of contaminants into soil.
The analyses focus on the description of soil nematodes and earthworms in terms of structure and ecological parameters of these communities (sex ratio, variety indexes, etc.). Furthermore, the ability of an animal to accumulate contaminants from the environment in its body is determined by mass or emission spectrometry methods. Metallothionein content analysis is used to monitor organism responses to environmental contamination by risk elements.
These low molecular weight proteins have the ability to attach themselves to various toxic elements, such as cadmium, mercury, and copper, by thiol bonds. In the animal, it serves to transport and detoxify metal ions, protect against metal toxicity, eliminate free radicals, and play a role in the metabolism of essential metal ions and immune responses. The concentration of metallothioneins is measured polarographically, by the method of differential pulse voltammetry using the modified Brdicka reaction under argon atmosphere.
