Testing environmental pollutants on soil organisms: a simple assay to investigate the toxicity of environmental pollutants on soil organisms, using CdCl2 and nematodes.

Juvenile stages of Caenorhabditis elegans (nematoda) were isolated and grown in an axenic medium containing various concentrations of CdCl2. Growth of the organisms was significantly reduced from a level of 1 microM CdCl2. Reproduction of the nematodes was also reduced from that 1 microM exposure level. At levels of 160 and 320 microM, growth was retarded at the early juvenile stages and the organisms did not reach the adult stage and could therefore not reproduce. The test system turned out to be simple and reproducible and is therefore suitable for the investigation of the toxicity of compounds to soil nematodes.