[Aging of spiked pyrene in two paddy soils and their particle-size fractions after soil incubation and changes in extractability and bio-availability to earthworm].

Effect of aging on bioavailability and extractability of persistent organic pollutants has recently been paid much attention in environmental studies. This study deals with aging of spiked pyrene, a four-ring polycyclic hydrocarbon, in two paddy soils and their particle-size fractions under laboratory incubation and change in its extractability and bioavailability. The bioavailability of aged pyrene was tested by an assay of exposure to earthworms (Eisenia foetida). The extractability of spiked pyrene was decreased by 15% to 23%, and the bioavailability to earthworm was decreased by 37% to 67% after incubation for 90 d compared to under no incubation. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference in the pyrene extractability between incubation with different size fractions of a single soil. Soil incubation resulted in lower extractability and, thus, lower environmental risk of the organic pollutants after incorporation in paddy soils and their aggregates. The different size fractions of paddy soils may exert different bioavailability when exposure to soil fauna. Thus, content and chemical extractability may not be appropriate index for assessing the potential environmental risk and bioavailability to soil fauna for persistent organic pollutants in paddy soils.