Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Sciences

The artificial soil medium recommended for invertebrate toxicity studies by OECD and ISO contains sphagnum peat as an organic component.Sphagnum peat is not widely available in tropical countries especially in the Indian subcontinent.Using of native organic matter source is also much more ecologically relevant for the region.Hence, development of an alternative is needed as a replacement of sphagnum peat.As coco peat is easily available as an organic component in tropical countries, earthworm toxicity studies were conducted with coco peat to assess its suitability to be included as an alternative in the artificial soil medium.Artificial soils were prepared with 70% sand, 20% kaolin clay and 10% coco peat…