ÖNORM EN ISO 16198

This International Standard specifies the plant-based test, hereafter called the biotest. It enables estimation of the environmental bioavailability of trace elements to plants either basically as the concentration in shoots and roots or in a more integrative way as the net uptake flux in plants. The biotest procedure includes two successive steps: (i) a pre-growth of plants in hydroponics and (ii) a growth of plants in contact with soil samples. The concentration in shoots and roots as well as the net uptake flux of trace elements in plants are determined at the end of the second step of the biotest procedure. This biotest is applicable to the assessment of environmental bioavailability of trace elements to plants, more particularly to agricultural plants, in soils or soil materials under oxic conditions, considering that - three plant species (cabbage, Brassica oleracea; tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea; tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum) are suggested in the standardized biotest procedure, but additional target-plant species can also be used, and - the standardized biotest procedure is validated for a range of trace elements including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn), but additional trace elements can also be accounted for. The biotest can be applied to soils and soil materials, including soils amended before or after field sampling with composts, sludges, wastewaters, and other (waste) materials.