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Potential of organic and inorganic amendments for stabilizing nickel in acidic soil, and improving the nutritional quality of spinach

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Abstract

Contamination of soils by nickel (Ni) has become a serious environmental problem throughout the world, and this substance wields dangerous effects on the ecosystem and food chain. A pot experiment was conducted to examine the effect of rice straw (RS), rice straw biochar (BI), and calcite (CC) at 1% and 2% application rates in a Ni-contaminated soil. The objective was to potentially stabilize Ni and reduce its bioavailability to spinach (Spinacia Oleracea L.). Spinach plants were grown in a Ni-contaminated Ultisol (commonly known as a red clay soil). Plant growth parameter results indicated that a BI 2% application rate significantly increased the root and shoots dry biomass increased by 1.7- and 6.3-fold, respectively, while essential nutrients were enhanced in the spinach plant compared to those in the untreated soil (CK). Moreover, adding amendments significantly decreased CaCl2 extractable Ni by 62.5% 94.1%, and 87.2%, while the toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP) fell by 26.7%, 47.8%, and 41.7% when using RS, BI, and CC, respectively, at 2% compared to CK. The Ni concentrations in the spinach roots declined by 51.6%, 73.3%, and 68.9%, and in the shoots reduced by 54.1%, 76.7%, and 70.8% for RS, BI, and CC, at a 2% application rate, respectively. Bio-concentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF) dropped significantly by as much as 72.7% and 20%, respectively, for BI 2% application rate. Results of the present study clearly indicated that biochar potential soil amendments for Ni stabilization, thereby reducing its bioavailability in the Ni-contaminated soil. This process enhanced the safety of food to be consumed and mitigated security risks.

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Acknowledgements

This work received financial support from the National Sci-Tech Support Plan of China (2015BAD05B02).

Funding

The authors would like to thank National Science and Technology Support Program of China (2015BAD05B02) for financially supporting this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtse River), Ministry of Agriculture; College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Umeed Ali, Muhammad Shaaban, Saqib Bashir, Muhammad Afzal Chhajro, Li Qian, Muhammad Shahid Rizwan, Qingling Fu, Jun Zhu & Hongqing Hu

  2. Department of Soil and Environmental Science, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan

    Saqib Bashir

  3. Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU), Karachi, Pakistan

    Muhammad Afzal Chhajro

  4. Cholistan Institute of Desert Studies, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan

    Muhammad Shahid Rizwan

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  1. Umeed Ali
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  2. Muhammad Shaaban
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  3. Saqib Bashir
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  4. Muhammad Afzal Chhajro
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  5. Li Qian
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  7. Qingling Fu
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  8. Jun Zhu
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  9. Hongqing Hu
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Contributions

Conceptualization, UA and HH; formal analysis, SB and MS; investigation, UA and MSR; methodology, UA, LQ, QF, JZ; software, UA and SB; writing original draft, UA; writing—review and editing, UA, HH, and MAC; funding acquisition, resources, HH. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hongqing Hu.

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Ali, U., Shaaban, M., Bashir, S. et al. Potential of organic and inorganic amendments for stabilizing nickel in acidic soil, and improving the nutritional quality of spinach. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 57769–57780 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14611-0

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