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Calcium amendments affect heavy metal bioavailability in acidic and calcareous soils

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Abstract

Assessing the effects of calcium-containing amendments on heavy metal availability in metal-polluted, varying pH soils, is essential for remediation purposes. An acidic and a calcareous heavy metal-polluted soils were amended with lime (calcium hydroxide), calcium nitrate or calcium chloride, and then, heavy metal bioavailability was assessed using the metal hyperaccumulator Sedum plumbizincicola along with a DTPA extraction, a soil bioavailability index. Lime amendment resulted in decreased soil DTPA-extractable heavy metal concentrations in both soils (54.5 and 15.7% lower than the control in the acidic and calcareous soil, respectively), increased plant yield and decreased shoot accumulation of most metals. Calcium nitrate and calcium chloride amendments resulted in elevated soil pH in the acidic soil while those resulted in decreased pH in the calcareous soil, both resulting in decreased plant yield and elevated plant shoot heavy metal concentrations in both soils. The calcium chloride amendment also resulted in elevated soil DTPA-extractable Cd, Zn and Mn concentrations (32.5–350% greater than the control) and elevated shoot Cd, Zn and Mn concentrations (11.1–351%) in both soils. Choosing the correct calcium amendment for heavy metal-contaminated soils, while considering soil pH, is obviously important for successful remediation purposes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr Linlin Zhao for his help in sample analysis. This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Programs of China (Grant Numbers: 2018YFD0800304) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 41471253).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of the Environment, Henan University of Technology, 100 Lianhua Street, Gaoxin District, Zhengzhou, 450001, Henan, China

    L. Li, K. Mao, W. Xing, X. Chen & W. Zhu

  2. Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1170, USA

    J. A. Ippolito

  3. Key Laboratory for Monitoring and Remediation of Heavy Metal Polluted Soils of Henan Province, Jiyuan, 459000, Henan, China

    Y. Cheng

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  1. L. Li
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  3. J. A. Ippolito
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  5. X. Chen
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  6. W. Zhu
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  7. Y. Cheng
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Contributions

LL, WX and KM contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by KM, LL, WZ, XC and YC. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KM, the draft was reviewed and edited by LL and JAI, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to L. Li.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Editorial Responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.

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Li, L., Mao, K., Ippolito, J.A. et al. Calcium amendments affect heavy metal bioavailability in acidic and calcareous soils. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 10067–10076 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03840-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03840-y

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