ABSTRACT
Soil contamination by potential toxics elements (PTE's) can change the ecosystem structure, its function and cause risk to human health. Soil is one of the main pathways of PTE's exposure to humans, so that is important to evaluate its content and distribution in the micro basins in order to assess the human health risk. In this study, we evaluated the Arsenic (As) content in 15 soils from Guamium micro-basin, located in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The effect of As rates on collembola reproduction was also evaluated in both natural samples from Guamium soils and artificial soils (ArtS). As and Cu had the highest contents in natural soils, and their concentration were close or higher than prevention value established by national and international standards. As availability was high in the ArtS and it decreased the collembola reproduction. The Lowest Observed Effect Concentration (LOEC) on ArtS were 0.25 mg/kg, while No Observed Effect Concentration (NOEC) were less than 0.25 mg/kg. Conversely, the LOEC were 8.41 mg/kg in the natural soil, but it was not possible to define the NOEC.
