Effects of the earthworm Metaphire guillelmi on the mineralization, metabolism, and bound-residue formation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) in soil.

Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is one of the most widely used brominated flame retardants worldwide. The degradation and fate of this organic pollutant of soils is of great concern and can be strongly affected by geophagous earthworms through ingestion and burrowing activities. Using 14C-tracers, we studied the effects of the geophagous earthworm Metaphire guillelmi on the mineralization, metabolism, and bound-residue formation of TBBPA in a typical Chinese rice paddy soil during 30days of incubation in the laboratory. Earthworms significantly decreased both mineralization (from 3.9±0.3% of the initial amount to 2.6±0.2%) and dissipation (from 90.6±0.6% to 84.1±1.2%) of TBBPA in the soil, and stimulated the generation of O-methylation metabolites (TBBPA methyl ethers; from 1.4±0.4% to 15.4±0.6%). This resulted in a strong decrease in bound-residue formation of TBBPA and its metabolites in the soil (from 80.3±0.4% to 41.8±3.1%). Results from a first-order, two-compartment model that describes the fate of TBBPA in soil indicated that the TBBPA-derived bound residues were mainly attributed to the binding of metabolites to the soil matrix and not to the binding of TBBPA, and that earthworms reduced the kinetic rates of both polar metabolite generation and their bound-residue formation. Our results suggested that the geophagous earthworm Metaphire guillelmi strongly influenced the fate of TBBPA by altering the composition of metabolites and therefore bound-residue formation. The increased persistence of TBBPA and the formation of persistent O-methylation metabolites by M. guillelmi would increase the environmental risk of TBBPA.