Ecotoxicity of urban dust: existing practices and perspectives for the bio assay application (review)

Abstract

Bioassay is a popular method for the ecotoxicological state assessment of various components of urban ecosystems — soils, water bodies and air. However, little is known about the potential of bioassay application to determine the ecotoxicity of urban dust — a complex heterogeneous media composed of natural and technogenic particles.
Many components of urban dust are known to pose toxic eff ects to living organisms. The aim of this article is to review the existing practices for the ecotoxicological assessment of urban dust and to identify the key trends in the development of the bioassay. The existing studies revealed a high potential of bioassay methods as they are sensitive to a wide range of pollutants present in dust; able to refl ect the dust toxicity selectively depending on environmental factors, and can be implemented using organisms of diff erent trophic levels. The following dust characteristics should be taken into account for the bioassay method proper choice: sample mass, wettability, pH, water-soluble ions and organic matter content. Due to complexity of urban dust composition and diff erent potential for the transition of its components into water extracts, it is recommended to prioritize the bioassay realized on solid dust substrates
instead of extracts. For the comprehensive assessment of dust impact on urban ecosystem, a set of organisms of different
trophic levels should be considered instead of one. Standards should be developed for dust bioassay in order to unify the results obtained by diff erent researches. Th e choice of the control sample is one of the most important
methodological questions.