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Are soil amendments able to restore arsenic-contaminated alkaline soils?

  • SOILS, SEC 3 • REMEDIATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CONTAMINATED OR DEGRADED LANDS • RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess the effectiveness of amendments in reducing the mobility and bioavailability of arsenic (As) in alkaline soils compared with acidic soils.

Materials and methods

An alkaline soil highly polluted with As was amended with marble sludge (limestone), compost (organic matter) and iron oxides in six different combinations. The soils were watered to field capacity and placed in plastic pots, and lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) bioassays were subsequently carried out. Leachates and pore water were collected, and the pH, Eh, electrical conductivity and As concentrations of both solutions were measured. The As concentration in the leaves and roots of the lettuce was measured, the root and leaf dry weight indices were estimated and sequential As extraction was performed. The results obtained with the unamended and amended soils were compared with those obtained with unpolluted soil.

Results and discussion

Iron oxide amendments were the most effective in reducing the mobility and bioavailability of As because these amendments significantly increased the As bound to hydrous oxides (non-bioavailable), decreased the As concentration in pore water and decreased the non-specifically and specifically sorbed As (bioavailable). Compost was less effective because it increased the concentrations of As in pore water and non-specifically sorbed As. Marble sludge, although it decreased the concentration of As in pore water and non-specifically sorbed As, was not effective because As bound to CaCO3 (specifically sorbed) was taken up by the lettuce. However, the amendments had an additive effect, and the use of a mixture of the three amendments resulted in the best lettuce development.

Conclusions

Although the amendments were effective in reducing the concentration of mobile and bioavailable As, none of the amendment combinations were able to decrease the shoot As concentration to a level below the maximum concentration observed in lettuce growing in unpolluted soils. Thus, the restoration goals for these highly polluted soils should not include future food production.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by grants CTM2009-07921 (Science and Innovation Ministry of Spain and FEDER) and P07-RNM-03303 (Andalusian Government and FEDER). Thanks to the Rijk Zwaan Company for providing lettuce seeds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Agronomía. Área de Edafología y Química Agrícola, Universidad de Almería, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario ceiA3. Carretera de Sacramento s/n. 04120, Almería, Spain

    Mariano Simón, Verónica González, Sergio de Haro & Inés García

  2. Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnments (LIEC), CNRS-UMR 7360, Université de Lorraine, rue du General Delestraint, 57070, Metz, France

    Verónica González

Authors
  1. Mariano Simón
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  2. Verónica González
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  3. Sergio de Haro
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  4. Inés García
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mariano Simón.

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Responsible editor: Ravi Naidu

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Simón, M., González, V., de Haro, S. et al. Are soil amendments able to restore arsenic-contaminated alkaline soils?. J Soils Sediments 15, 117–125 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-0953-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-0953-x

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