Abstract
Lignin is a primary byproduct from the black liquor treatment in paper making industries, its application as micro-fertilizer in agricultural land might provide a promising alternative to sewage discharge. However, application of such a micro-fertilizer might affect the soil properties and result in soil pollution. In this study, the effects of lignin application on phytoavailability and speciation change of heavy metals in soils were investigated. Greenhouse experiments showed that lignin application improved the growth of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in all three soils investigated. The increase of the biomass for wheat shoot was 59.7%, 39.8% and 12.3% for Beijing soil, Jiangxi soil and Dongbei soil, respectively. In contrast, lignin amendment decreased the concentrations of heavy metals in wheat shoots from 2.2% to 61.0%. Sequential extraction procedure of a three-step BCR was used to investigate the fraction distribution. The extractable fractions were specified as fraction B1: water soluble, exchangeable and carbonate bound or weakly specifically adsorbed; B2: Fe-Mn oxide bound; B3: organic matter and sulfide bound. The results showed that lignin application led to the redistribution of heavy metals in each fraction. Generally, heavy metals decreased in B1 and B2 fractions and increased in B3 fraction. Upon the results short-term application of lignin in agricultural land not only improves the growth of wheat but also reduces the phyto-abailability of heavy metal in wheat.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Varma, K. V. R., Swaminathan, T., Subrahmanyam, P. V. R., Study of copper removal by lignin solution/suspension, J. Environ. Sci. Heal. A, 1989, 24: 847–861.
Mahoney, M., Effect of ammonium sulfite spent liquor on soil properties and spring wheat growth, M.S. Thesis, Washington State University, Pullman, 1998.
Mu, H. Z., Yang, W. B., Huang, Y. C., Research progress in application of papermaking black liquor and lignin, Technol. Equip. Environ. Pollut. Contrl (in Chinese), 2001, 2: 26–29.
Soon, Y. K., Bates, T. E., Chemical pools of cadmium, nickel and zinc in polluted soils and some preliminary indications of their availability to plants, J. Soil Sci., 1982, 33: 477–488.
Sauerbeck, D. R., Hein, A., The nickel uptake from different soils and its prediction by chemical extraction, Water Air Soil Pollut., 1991, 57–58: 861–871.
Lake, K. L., Kirk, P., Lester, J., Fractionation, characterization, and speciation of heavy metals in sewage sludge and sludgeamended soil: a review, J. Environ. Qual., 1984, 13: 175–183.
Ma, L. Q., Rao, G. N., Chemical fractionation of cadmium, copper, nickel, and zinc in contaminated soils, J. Environ. Qual., 1997, 26: 259–264.
Wang, P., Qu, E., Li, Z. et al., Fractions and availability of nickel in loessial soil amended with sewage or sewage sludge, J. Environ. Qual., 1997, 26: 795–801.
Shuman, L. M., Fractionation method for soil microelements, Soil Sci., 1985, 140: 11–22.
Petruzzeli, G., Lubrano, L., Guidi, G., Uptake by corn and chemical extractability of heavy metals from a four years compost treated soil, Plant Soil, 1989, 116: 23–27.
Nelson, D. W., Sommers, L. E., Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter, in Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2 (eds. Page, A. L., Miller, R. H., Keeney, D. R.), Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy, 1982, 539–579.
Rhoades, J. D., Cation-exchange capacity, in Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2, Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy, 1982, 149–158.
Quevauviller, Ph., Rauret, G., Griepink, B., Single and sequential extraction in sediments and soils, Intern. J. Environ. Anal. Chem., 1993, 51: 231–235.
Zhang, S. Z., Shan, X. Q., The determination of rare earth elements in soil by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, At. Spectrosc, 1997, 18: 140–144.
Qiao, L., Ho, G., The effect of clay amendment on speciation of heavy metals in sewage sludge, Wat. Sci. Technol., 1996, 34: 413–420.
Baldwin, K. R., Shelton, J. E., Availability of heavy metals in compost-amended soil, Bioresource Technol., 1999, 69: 1–14.
Page, A. L., Logan, T. J., Ryan, J. A., Land Application of Sludge-food-chain Implications, Chelsea, MI: Lewis Publishers, 1987.
Alloway, B. J., Heavy Metals in Soils, Glasgow: Blackie Academic and Professional, 1995.
McBride, M. B., Richards, B. K., Steenhuis, T. et al., Mobility and solubility of toxic metals and nutrients in soil fifteen years after sludge application, Soil Sci., 1997, 162: 487–500.
Isaac, R. A., Boothroyd, Y., Beneficial use of biosolids: progress in controlling metals, Wat. Sci. Technol., 1996, 34: 493–497.
Mench, M. J., Didier, V. L., Löffler, M. et al., A mimickedin situ remediation study of metal-contaminated soils with emphasis on cadmium and lead, J. Environ. Qual., 1994, 23: 58–63.
Pierzynski, G. M., Schwab, A. P., Bioavailability of zinc, cadmium, and lead in metal-contaminated alluvial soil, J. Environ. Qual., 1993, 22: 247–254.
Holm, P. E., Christensen, T. H., Tjell, J. C. et al., Speciation of cadmium and zinc with application to soil solutions, J. Environ. Qual., 1995, 24: 183–190.
Pinheiro, J. P., Mota, A. M., Goncalves, M. L. S., Complexation study of humic acids with cadmium (II) and lead (II), Anal. Chim. Acta, 1994, 284: 525–537.
Sauvé, S., McBride, M. B., Hendershot, W. H., Soil solution speciation of lead (II): Effects of organic matter and pH, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 1998, 62: 618–621.
McLaren, R., Swift, R. S., Williams, J. G., The sorption of copper by soil materials at low equilibrium solution concentrations, J. Soil Sci., 1981, 32: 247–256.
Yu, S., He, Z. L., Huang, C. Y. et al., Adsorption-desorption behavior of copper at contaminated levels in red soils from China, J. Environ. Qual., 2002, 31: 1129–1136.
Buffle, J., Complexation reaction in aquatic systems, in An Analytical Approach, Chichester: Ellis Horwiid Publ., 1988.
Adediran, S. A., Kramer, J. R., Copper adsorption on clay, ironmanganeses oxide and organic fractions along a salinity gradient, Appl. Geochem., 1987, 2: 213–216.
Baker, D. E., Copper, in Heavy Metals in Soils (ed. Alloway, B. J.), London: Blackie & Sons Ltd., 1990, 151–176.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, S., Zhang, S., Shan, X. et al. Phyto-availability and speciation change of heavy metals in soils amended with lignin as micro-fertilizer. Sci. China Ser. C.-Life Sci. 48 (Suppl 1), 142–149 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02889812
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02889812