Determination of urease activity in soils by carbon dioxide release for ecotoxicological evaluation of contaminated soils.

A method for the quantification of urease enzyme activity has been set up, which is based on the quantification of carbon dioxide set free into the head space of gastight vessels. The method can be applied for ecotoxicological characterisation of contaminated soil samples besides other methods like soil respiration measurements or nitrification inhibition tests. The sieved soil sample can be incubated under nearly natural conditions with an adjusted water content of about 50% of the water holding capacity. Ammonia or urea do not need to be extracted, since carbon dioxide release is correlated to urease activity. Thus carbon dioxide release is a direct result of urease activity which can be measured in the head space using gastight syringes and gaschromatographic equipment. The urease activity is determined by comparing the carbon dioxide release of incubation vessels with and without urea supply. The applicability of this method has been demonstrated by experiments with N-(n-butyl)phosphoric triamide (NBPT), copper ions and zinc ions as known inhibitors of urease activity.