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Can simultaneous immobilization of arsenic and cadmium in paddy soils be achieved by liming?

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Abstract

Liming acidic paddy soils to near-neutral pH is the most cost-effective strategy to minimize cadmium (Cd) accumulation by rice. However, the liming-induced effect on arsenic (As) (im)mobilization remains controversial and is called upon for further investigation, particularly for the safe utilization of paddy soils co-contaminated with As and Cd. Here, we explored As and Cd dissolution along pH gradients in flooded paddy soils and extracted key factors accounting for their release discrepancy with liming. The minimum As and Cd dissolution occurred concurrently at pH 6.5–7.0 in an acidic paddy soil (LY). In contrast, As release was minimized at pH < 6 in the other two acidic soils (CZ and XX), while the minimum Cd release still appeared at pH 6.5–7.0. Such a discrepancy was determined largely by the relative availability of Fe under overwhelming competition from dissolved organic carbon (DOC). A mole ratio of porewater Fe/DOC at pH 6.5–7.0 is suggested as a key indicator of whether co-immobilization of As and Cd can occur in flooded paddy soils with liming. In general, a high mole ratio of porewater Fe/DOC (≥ 0.23 in LY) at pH 6.5–7.0 can endow co-immobilization of As and Cd, regardless of Fe supplement, whereas such a case is not in the other two soils with lower Fe/DOC mole ratios (0.01–0.03 in CZ and XX). Taking the example of LY, the introduction of ferrihydrite promoted the transformation of metastable As and Cd fractions to more stable ones in the soil during 35 days of flooded incubation, thus meeting a class I soil for safe rice production. This study demonstrates that the porewater Fe/DOC mole ratio can indicate a liming-induced effect on co-(im)mobilization of As and Cd in typical acidic paddy soils, providing new insights into the applicability of liming practice for the paddy soils.

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Data Availability

The authors declare that the main data supporting the findings of this study are contained within the paper and its associated Supplementary Information. All other relevant data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41977108), the Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Hunan Province, China (No.2020JJ2023), and the Cross Disciplinary Scientific Research and Innovation Team of Hunan Normal University (No. 2022JC103).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographical Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, China

    Huiling Yu, Xin Wang & Bo Peng

  2. Key Laboratory of Environmental Heavy-Metal Contamination and Ecological Remediation, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, China

    Huiling Yu, Xin Wang & Bo Peng

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

    Delai Zhong

  4. Hunan Institute of Microbiology, Changsha, 410009, China

    Hongyuan Zeng

  5. Center for Foreign Economic & Technical Cooperation in Agriculture Department of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410006, China

    Bojun Huang

  6. Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

    Baoshan Xing

Authors
  1. Huiling Yu
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  5. Xin Wang
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Contributions

Huiling Yu: data curation, formal analysis, investigation, and roles/writing—original draft

Delai Zhong: conceptualization, methodology, data analysis, and writing—review and editing

Hongyuan Zeng: conceptualization, resources, and methodology

Bojun Huang: conceptualization, resources, and methodology

Xin Wang: funding acquisition, conceptualization, supervision, data analysis, and writing—review and editing

Bo Peng: editing, conceptualization, and funding acquisition

Baoshan Xing: editing, conceptualization, and data analysis

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xin Wang.

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Highlights

• Liming induces the maximized Cd immobilization at pH 6.5–7.0.

• Liming triggers the maximized As immobilization at pH ≤ 6.5–7.0.

• Available porewater Fe for As immobilization is largely competed by DOC.

• Porewater Fe/DOC mole ratio can indicate As and Cd co-immobilization.

• Soluble organic fertilizers should be restricted in paddy soils with liming.

Supplementary information

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Yu, H., Zhong, D., Zeng, H. et al. Can simultaneous immobilization of arsenic and cadmium in paddy soils be achieved by liming?. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 73677–73687 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27536-7

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