Abstract
The study showed novel findings about changes in the fate and bioavailability of conazole fungicides (CFs) after biochar (BC) addition to soil. Two contrasting soils (low- and high-sorbing of CF; L soils, H soils) were amended by three BCs (low-, moderate-, and high-sorbing of CF; L-BC, M-BC, H-BC) at 0.2% and 2% doses. Epoxiconazole (EPC) and tebuconazole (TBC) were then added to the soil–BC mixtures, and their degradation, bioaccumulation in earthworms (Eisenia andrei), and bioconcentration in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) were studied for three months. Also, stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) was performed to determine CF (bio)accessibility. The EPC and TBC degradation in the soil–BC mixtures followed usually the first-order decay kinetics. The BC addition prevalently decreased the pesticides degradation in the L soil mixtures but often increased it in the H soil mixtures. In general, EPC degraded less than TBC. BC type and dose roles in the pesticides degradation were unclear. The BC addition significantly reduced pesticide uptake to the earthworms in the L soil mixtures (by 37–96%) and in the H soil mixtures (by 6–89%) with 2% BC. The BC addition reduced pesticide uptake to the lettuce roots and leaves significantly—up to two orders of magnitude, and this reduction was strong in H soil mixtures at 2% of BC. The BC addition reduced the CF (bio)accessibility measured by SBSE in all L soil mixtures and some H soil mixtures with 2% BC. Although not significant, it also seems that the pesticide bioaccumulation, bioconcentration, and (bio)accessibility were decreasing according to the BC type (L-BC > M-BC > H-BC). The pesticide concentrations in the earthworms and lettuce correlated significantly to the SBSE results, which indicates this technique as a possible predictor of biotic uptake. Our results showed that the interactions were hard to predict in the complex soil–BC–pesticide system.
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Acknowledgements
We humbly dedicate this work to our late colleague Kerstin Brandstätter-Scherr, who was one of the pioneers of Austrian and Czech scientific collaboration in biochar research. She was one of the key researchers and guides who crucially contributed to this work from the beginning. Her influence motivated a great many people and had a profound impact on their lives and careers.
Funding
This research was supported by a project of the Czech Science Foundation (GF17-33820L) and Austrian Science Fund (FWF): I 3133-N34. The authors appreciate Research Infrastructure RECETOX RI (No. LM2018121), financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, and Operational Programme Research, Development and Innovation—project CETOCOEN EXCELLENCE (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_043/0009632) for supportive background.
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Nikola Bošković: investigation, writing original draft, visualization, and preparation.
Zuzana Bílková: investigation.
Marek Šudoma: investigation.
Lucie Bielská: validation and verification.
Lucia Škulcová: validation and verification.
Doris Ribitsch: financial support for the project.
Gerhard Soja: investigation.
Branislav Vrana: investigation.
Jakub Hofman: conceptualization, financial support, project administration, supervision, writing, and editing.
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Bošković, N., Bílková, Z., Šudoma, M. et al. Effects of biochar on the fate of conazole fungicides in soils and their bioavailability to earthworms and plants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 23323–23337 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17191-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17191-1