Bioluminescent enzyme inhibition-based assay for the prediction of toxicity of pollutants in urban soils

There is a need for rapid simple and informative environmental assessment methods. The present investigation is aimed at assessing the possibility of using the combined enzyme system of luminescent bacteria: NAD(P)H:FMN-oxidoreductase + luciferase (Red + Luc) for predicting the potential toxicity of industrial urbostratozems sampled in the city of Krasnoyarsk. Three groups of urbostratozems polluted with fluorine, arsenic and lead, were tested by the methods of chemical analysis and enzymatic bioassay. Only the assessment of the arsenic-contaminated soil samples showed the dependence between the reduced activity of the enzyme system and the arsenic concentration variations. The results reveal that the sensitivity of the Red + Luc enzyme system to the soil pollutants depends on the properties of the studied soil samples. Moreover, the solubility of lead in the soil samples affects the accuracy of the enzymatic bioassays for soil toxicity testing. The results of the enzymatic bioassay of the fluoride-contaminated soil samples are ambiguous. The obtained data show the relevance of the sample preparation during integral bioassays. In addition, soil properties should be taken into account as well. The current study emphasizes the importance of conducting chemical and biological testing as a combined set to obtain comprehensive information about the anthropogenic load. [Display omitted] •Bioluminescent enzymatic assay was used for soil toxicity testing.•Factors results in the accuracy of the bioassay revealed.•Conditionally, the bioassay has the sensitivity to As pollution.