Ecotoxicity and biodegradability in soil and aqueous media of lubricants used in forestry applications

Marie-Christine Cecutti (1) , Dominique Agius (1)

1 CAI - Chimie Agro-Industrielle

The work presented in this article focuses on the environmental impact of hydraulic fluids used in forestry. Migration and biodegradability of three biolubricants and a mineral lubricant were monitored in two forest soils and in a liquid medium. These studies proved that biolubricants were easily degradable products and showed ultimate biodegradability rates significantly higher than those of the fluid of mineral origin, specially in a soil environment. This superiority was even greater when fluid behaviour was observed after 1000 h of use. Ecotoxicity test enabled the classification and comparison of biolubricants and showed that toxicity levels of the biolubricants were never high however, even after use, as compared to petroleum-based fluid.

Mots clés: Ecotoxicity; Soil; Vegetable based oils; Lubricants; Biodegradability

Domaines: Agronomie

Marie-Christine Cecutti, Dominique Agius. Ecotoxicity and biodegradability in soil and aqueous media of lubricants used in forestry applications. Bioresource Technology, 2008, 99 (17), pp.8492-8496. ⟨10.1016/j.biortech.2008.03.050⟩. ⟨hal-02089297⟩