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Farmyard manures: the major agronomic sources of heavy metals in the Philippi Horticultural Area in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

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Abstract

Heavy metal toxicity in agro-ecosystems is a global problem. Recently, it has been indicated that the soils used for agriculture and the fresh produce grown on these soils in the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) contains heavy metals exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations thereof in South Africa. This study was therefore aimed at evaluating the concentrations of heavy metals in the soils and vegetables produced in the PHA, as well as to determine the major agronomic sources of these metals in this area. Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations in the soils exceeded the maximum permissible concentrations of 6.6, 6.6, and 46 mg/kg, respectively. Cd, Pb, and Zn concentrations in the vegetables also exceeded the maximum permissible concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, and 40 mg/kg, respectively. The biggest agronomic contributors of these heavy metals to the soils in the PHA were found to be the farmyard manures. Knowing what the major sources of these heavy metals are, it is important to determine ways to mitigate the inputs thereof, as well as to remove existing concentrations from the soils without contaminating the groundwater resources in the area.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the farmers of the Philippi Horticultural Area for their support and cooperation as well as the VLIR-UOS program “Dynamics of building a better society” for providing funding to conduct the research. The opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are however those of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag x 17, Bellville, 7535, South Africa

    Marÿke Malan, Francuois Müller, Lincoln Raitt, Johannes Aalbers & Lilburne Cyster

  2. Agricultural Research Council—Animal Production Institute (ARC-API), University of the Western Cape, Private Bag x17, Bellville, 7535, South Africa

    Francuois Müller

  3. Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Charles Deberiotstraat 32, Box 2439, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Luc Brendonck

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  1. Marÿke Malan
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The manuscript entitled: Farmyard manures: The major agronomic sources of heavy metals in the Philippi Horticultural Area in the Western Cape Province of South Africa authored by Marÿke Malan, Francuois Müller, Lincoln Raitt, Johannes Aalbers, Lilburne Cyster and Luc Brendonck contains original research and has not been submitted or published earlier in any journal and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. All authors have seen and approved the manuscript and have contributed significantly to the preparation of the paper. The research conducted in this study meets all applicable standards with regard to the ethics of experimentation and research integrity. No competing interests are at stake, and there is no conflict of interest with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias the content of the paper.

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Malan, M., Müller, F., Raitt, L. et al. Farmyard manures: the major agronomic sources of heavy metals in the Philippi Horticultural Area in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Environ Monit Assess 187, 708 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4918-3

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