Analyzing Soil Metal Toxicity: Spiked or Field‐Contaminated Soils?

Analyzing Soil Metal Toxicity: Spiked or Field-Contaminated Soils? Most ecotoxicological studies on soil metal toxicity are performed using spiked soils (i.e., uncontaminated or artificial soils to which increasing amounts of metals in the form of soluble salts are added in a laboratory setting). For instance, total soil metal concentrations yielding 10% inhibition in freshly spiked soils were up to 100-fold smaller (median 3.4-fold) than those in corresponding aged soils or field-contaminated soils (Smolders et al. [8]). [Extracted from the article]