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Comparing the nutrient changes, heavy metals, and genotoxicity assessment before and after vermicomposting of thermal fly ash using Eisenia fetida

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Abstract

Fly ash (FA) is available in an unstable state and can be ameliorated by vermicomposting. The different ratios of FA viz (FA10, FA15, FA20, FA25, FA50, FA75) were mixed with another organic waste, i.e., cattle dung. Supportive effects of FA were seen on the reproductive parameters of the earthworms up to FA25. Some beneficial changes have been reported in pH, EC, TOC, TKN, TAP, TNa, TK, and potentially toxic heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Cd, Co, Ni, Cr, Pb). The genotoxicity test was performed to assess the toxic effects of the fly ash which has not been done till now. Low genotoxicity potential and high onion root growth were observed in the post-vermicompost samples which were not even reported yet by any other study. These results clearly indicated that the vermicomposting process offers the best option to manage the FA by converting it into an ecofriendly, nutrient-rich, and properly detoxified manure with the help of earthworms which also indicate its economically best-fit applications for the large scale agricultural practices.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank UGC-BSR Fellowship and (UPE/DST-PURSE/CPEPA) grants of the Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India, for providing the financial assistance during the research work.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

The software used for statistical analysis was SPSS 16.0 (Statistical Product and Service Solutions).

Funding

This work was supported financially by UGC-BSR Fellowship and (UPE/DST-PURSE/CPEPA) grants of the Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India, for the necessary lab facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India

    Bhawana Sohal, Sharanpreet Singh, Soubam Indra Kumar Singh, Jagdeep Kaur & Adarsh Pal Vig

  2. River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, Yanagida, Gifu, Japan

    Sartaj Ahmad Bhat

  3. Department of Zoology, Khalsa College, Amritsar, Punjab, India

    Jaswinder Singh

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  1. Bhawana Sohal
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  2. Sharanpreet Singh
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  3. Soubam Indra Kumar Singh
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  7. Adarsh Pal Vig
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Contributions

APV and JS designed the experiment. BS performed the experiment and collected and analyzed the data. SIKS and JK assisted in experimental work, and SAB and SS gave useful suggestions on data analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by BS while JS and APV proof read and revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Adarsh Pal Vig.

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Ethical statement

We have used the animal, i.e., earthworms in our study for vermicomposting. After experimenting, we put them and their further generations back again into vermiculture from where these were taken, and this was done according to institutional rule.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Sohal, B., Singh, S., Singh, S.I.K. et al. Comparing the nutrient changes, heavy metals, and genotoxicity assessment before and after vermicomposting of thermal fly ash using Eisenia fetida. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 48154–48170 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13726-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13726-8

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