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Can ligand addition to soil enhance Cd phytoextraction? A mechanistic model study

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An Erratum to this article was published on 31 January 2015

Abstract

Phytoextraction is a potential method for cleaning Cd-polluted soils. Ligand addition to soil is expected to enhance Cd phytoextraction. However, experimental results show that this addition has contradictory effects on plant Cd uptake. A mechanistic model simulating the reaction kinetics (adsorption on solid phase, complexation in solution), transport (convection, diffusion) and root absorption (symplastic, apoplastic) of Cd and its complexes in soil was developed. This was used to calculate plant Cd uptake with and without ligand addition in a great number of combinations of soil, ligand and plant characteristics, varying the parameters within defined domains. Ligand addition generally strongly reduced hydrated Cd (Cd2+) concentration in soil solution through Cd complexation. Dissociation of Cd complex (\( \mathrm{CdL} \)) could not compensate for this reduction, which greatly lowered Cd2+ symplastic uptake by roots. The apoplastic uptake of \( \mathrm{CdL} \) was not sufficient to compensate for the decrease in symplastic uptake. This explained why in the majority of the cases, ligand addition resulted in the reduction of the simulated Cd phytoextraction. A few results showed an enhanced phytoextraction in very particular conditions (strong plant transpiration with high apoplastic Cd uptake capacity), but this enhancement was very limited, making chelant-enhanced phytoextraction poorly efficient for Cd.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the ANR 2011 CESA 008 01 funding (including Z. Lin grant). We are grateful to Mark Irvine (INRA Bordeaux, UMR ISPA) and Claude Bruchou (INRA PACA, Unité BioSP) for their great assistance with high-performance computer management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRA, Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, UMR 1120, 2, avenue de la Forêt de Haye, TSA 40602, 54518, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Zhongbing Lin & Thibault Sterckeman

  2. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, UMR 1120, Université de Lorraine, 2, avenue de la Forêt de Haye, TSA 40602, 54518, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Zhongbing Lin & Thibault Sterckeman

  3. INRA, Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements, UMR 1391 ISPA, 71, avenue Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d’Ornon, France

    André Schneider & Christophe Nguyen

  4. Bordeaux Sciences Agro, UMR 1391 ISPA, 33170, Gradignan, France

    André Schneider & Christophe Nguyen

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  1. Zhongbing Lin
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  2. André Schneider
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  3. Christophe Nguyen
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Correspondence to Thibault Sterckeman.

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Lin, Z., Schneider, A., Nguyen, C. et al. Can ligand addition to soil enhance Cd phytoextraction? A mechanistic model study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 12811–12826 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3218-8

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