Elsevier

Pedosphere

Volume 31, Issue 6, December 2021, Pages 944-953
Pedosphere

Assessment of compost and three biochars associated with Ailanthus altissima (Miller) Swingle for lead and arsenic stabilization in a post-mining Technosol

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(21)60025-5Get rights and content

Abstract

The elevated presence of metal(loid)s in the environment significantly impacts ecosystems and human health and is generally largely due to industrial and mining activities. Thus, in the current study, we investigated and proposed an environmentally friendly method (phytomanagement) aimed at reducing the negative impacts associated with metal(loid) pollution through the use of soil amendments (biochar and compost) to permit Ailanthus altissima growth on a highly contaminated mining Technosol, with arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) contents of 539.06 and 11 453 mg kg–1, respectively. The objective was to examine the impacts of three biochars and compost on i) the physicochemical characteristics of soil, ii) metal(loid) immobilization in soil, and iii) A. altissima growth. We revealed that the application of biochar as a soil amendment improved soil conditions by increasing soil electrical conductivity, pH, and water-holding capacity. Moreover, concomitantly, we observed a large reduction (99%) in Pb mobility and availability following application of the hardwood biochar in combination with compost (HBCP). Thus, this combined soil amendment was most effective in promoting A. altissima growth. In addition, the HBCP treatment prevented As translocation in the upper parts of plants, although soil pore water As concentration was not diminished by amendment application.

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      Mining and smelting activities can lead to severe toxic metal pollution into surrounding soil environment and the elevated presence of metal(loid)s that originate from industrial and mining activities in the environment obviously affects human and ecosystems health (Alidou-Arzika et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2021a, Liu et al., 2021b). After mining processes, metal pollutants (e.g., arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn)) are transported by water and wind erosion over long distances or left behind as tailings (Alidou-Arzika et al., 2021; Cui et al., 2021; Kabir et al., 2012). The toxic metals can accumulate in soils and interfere with the morphological structure and physiological processes of plants, such as chloroplast structure, photosynthesis and nutrient absorption (Kumar et al., 2021).

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