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Biochar effects on metal bioaccumulation and arsenic speciation in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown in contaminated soil

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A Correction to this article was published on 03 October 2017

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Abstract

Mining and geogenic activities can lead to elevated concentrations of potentially toxic elements in soil. Biochar amendment to soil is a cost-effective technology and environmentally friendly approach to control soil pollution, improve phytoremediation and mitigate health risks due to agricultural products. Greenhouse pot experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of rice husk biochar on alfalfa biomass, metal bioaccumulation and arsenic speciation. Results indicated that rice husk biochar amendments to contaminated soil increased plants biomass by improving soil fertility and available nutrients. Biochar also increased soil cation change capacity, dissolved organic carbon, while decreased available concentrations of potentially toxic elements (except for arsenic). The accumulation of nickel, lead, cadmium and zinc (except for chromium and arsenic) significantly (P ≤ 0.05) decreased as compared with unamended control plants. In addition, increases were observed for inorganic arsenite and arsenate. Current findings demonstrate that rice husk biochar can be used as a beneficial amendment for contaminated soil. However, further field experiments are needed to validate its long-term effectiveness where environmental factors are diverse and complex.

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Change history

  • 03 October 2017

    The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. One affiliation and one author were missing. The corrected affiliations and authors are given here.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by National Scientific Foundation of China (Grant No. 41501519), National High-Tech R&D Program of China and the International Science, Technology Cooperation Program and the Chinese Academy of Sciences under the CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI, Grant No. 2015VEB055).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, 361021, China

    M. Ibrahim, S. Khan, X. Hao & G. Li

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan

    S. Khan

  3. Key Lab of Urban Environmental Processes and Pollution Control, Ningbo Urban Environment Observatory and Monitoring Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315830, China

    S. Khan & G. Li

Authors
  1. M. Ibrahim
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  2. S. Khan
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  3. X. Hao
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  4. G. Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Li.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: J. Aravind

A correction to this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1587-5.

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Ibrahim, M., Khan, S., Hao, X. et al. Biochar effects on metal bioaccumulation and arsenic speciation in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown in contaminated soil. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 13, 2467–2474 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1081-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1081-5

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