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Effect of applying persulfate on the accumulation of arsenic in rice plants grown in arsenic-contaminated paddy soil

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Abstract

Arsenic is known to be a notorious human carcinogen and rice consumption is becoming the primary human exposure route for As, especially in many Asian countries. As one of redox-sensitive elements in soil, sulfur plays an indisputable role in controlling As behaviors. However, information on the effects of persulfe (PS) on the toxicity and accumulation of As in rice plant under flooded conditions is limited. Therefore, a pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of PS amendment on the growth and accumulation of As species in rice plants grown in As-contaminated paddy soil. Results revealed that PS application increased the As, Fe, and Mn in porewater at the early stage, and then declined. Application of PS increased the biomass of stem and root, while inhibited the formation of iron plaque on the root surface. The As translocation from root to rice above tissues and accumulation of As species in brown rice were declined by amendment with PS. The inorganic arsenic (iAs) and DMA were the two main species in brown rice, and decreased by 13~26% and 40~60% respectively upon PS application. The results suggested that amendment with PS might be feasible for reducing the accumulation of As in rice grains grown in As-contaminated paddy soil. However, further detailed studies on the potential soil biogeochemical and physiological mechanisms are recommended.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Environmental Protection Public Welfare Industry Targeted Research Fund (PM-zx703-202002-035), Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan (202102080209), International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of Guangdong Province (2021A0505030045), and National Key Research and Development Program (2019YFC1804800).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, China

    Jianqiang Zhang, Qi Zou, Menqiang Sun, Hang Wei, Ling Huang, Tiantian Ye & Zhiliang Chen

  2. Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Heavy Metal Pollution Control and Restoration in Farmland Soil, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Jianqiang Zhang, Qi Zou, Menqiang Sun, Hang Wei, Ling Huang & Zhiliang Chen

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  1. Jianqiang Zhang
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  2. Qi Zou
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  3. Menqiang Sun
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  4. Hang Wei
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  5. Ling Huang
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  6. Tiantian Ye
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Contributions

JZ designed and performed the experiment, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. QZ, MS, and HW helped in the pot experiments and analyzed the samples. LH provided advice on the design of the research. TY and ZC provided advice on the design of the research and helped with manuscript editing.

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Correspondence to Tiantian Ye or Zhiliang Chen.

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Zhang, J., Zou, Q., Sun, M. et al. Effect of applying persulfate on the accumulation of arsenic in rice plants grown in arsenic-contaminated paddy soil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 66479–66489 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18344-y

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