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Effects of sewage sludge immobilized by composite phosphorus-bearing materials on speciations of heavy metals and growth of ryegrass

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Abstract

Sewage sludge treatment and disposal has become a pressing issue in China. Sewage sludge was passivated by composite phosphorus-bearing materials to decrease heavy metals bioavailability. The optimum immobilizing conditions that were 5 g of phosphate rock, 3 g of calcium superphosphate for 100 g sludge and 14 d of passivation time were determined by an orthogonal test. The physico-chemical properties and nutritional index of the passivated sludge complied with Chinese national standard GB/T23486-2009. In the pot experiment, 10% (wt) of passivated sludge (non-passivated sludge) was added into the background soil and labelled as passivated treatment (non-passivated treatment), respectively. Plant height, tiller count, chlorophyll content, and biomass all increased in the passivated treatment when compared to the control treatment, but they all dropped in the non-passivated treatment. Due to good passivation impact on Cu and Pb, their bioaccumulation factors did not significantly differ between the control and the passivated treatments, but were significantly greater in the non-passivated treatment. The bioaccumulation factors of Zn in the passivated and non-passivated treatments were much higher than those in the control treatment. These findings could provide a theoretical foundation for land usage of sewage sludge immobilized by composite phosphorus-bearing materials.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (ZR2020MB141) and the National-level and School-level Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program.

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Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, ZR2020MB141, Xuan Zhang, National-level and School-level Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Ji’nan, People’s Republic of China

    Tianyu Xie, Baihui Fang, Heng Cao, Yuhai He & Xuan Zhang

  2. Shandong Association of Environmental Protection Industry, Ji’nan, People’s Republic of China

    Dongfang Wang

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  1. Tianyu Xie
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Contributions

XZ supervised and directed all research work conducted in the laboratory. TYX, BHF and HC performed the immobilization of heavy metals. YHH and DFW carried out the pot experiment. BHF and YHH carried out the data analysis and wrote the first draft. All authors contributed to the proof-reading of the final manuscript draft.

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Correspondence to Xuan Zhang.

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Xie, T., Fang, B., Cao, H. et al. Effects of sewage sludge immobilized by composite phosphorus-bearing materials on speciations of heavy metals and growth of ryegrass. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 26, 467–477 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-023-01843-0

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