Abstract
The presence of mercury (Hg) in the environment is a major concern because mercury is toxic for living organisms. Estimating the Hg toxicity of environmental samples is difficult because contaminants occur in pools of various bioavailabilities, and thus, measuring the total concentration of a contaminant rarely reflects the real toxicity and risk. There is therefore a need to design advanced methods to measure the bioavailable fraction of the contaminants. Here, we used the diffusive gradient in thin films (DGT) method to determine the bioavailability of Hg in agricultural soils containing 0.02 and 0.64 mg kg−1 of Hg. Specifically, we used homemade manufactured open and restricted diffusive layers to distinguish between inorganic and organic bioavailable Hg species in soil. The findings demonstrate for the first time the successful use of restricted gel for the determination of inorganic Hg species in soil. Moreover, a model program has been used to calculate the effective concentration for predicting Hg concentration uptake by plants. For this purpose, lettuces were planted in soils to assess Hg soil-to-plant transfer. Concentrations of Hg obtained by DGT measurements in soils matched the Hg concentration found in lettuce roots, thus confirming the effectiveness of this technique in predicting Hg uptake by plants.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cattani I, Spalla S, Beone GM et al (2008) Characterization of mercury species in soils by HPLC-ICP-MS and measurement of fraction removed by diffusive gradient in thin films. Talanta 74:1520–1526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2007.09.029
Davison W, Zhang H (1994) In-situ speciation measurements of trace components in natural waters using thin-film gels. Nature 237:546–548. https://doi.org/10.1038/367546a0
Dean WE Jr (1974) Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition: comparison with other methods. SEPM J Sediment Res 44:242–248. https://doi.org/10.1306/74D729D2-2B21-11D7-8648000102C1865D
Díez S, Montuori P, Querol X, Bayona JM (2007) Total mercury in the hair of children by combustion atomic absorption spectrometry (Comb-AAS). J Anal Toxicol 31:144–149. https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/31.3.144
Dočekalová H, Kovařková V, Dočekal B (2012) Mobility and bioaccessibility of trace metals in soils assessed by conventional extraction procedures and passive diffusive samplers. Chem Speciat Bioavailab 24:261–265. https://doi.org/10.3184/095422912X13490131100968
Ericksen JA, Gustin MS (2004) Foliar exchange of mercury as a function of soil and air mercury concentrations. Sci Total Environ 324:271–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2003.10.034
EU (1986) Council directive of 12 June 1986 on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture (86/278/EEC). Off J Eur Communities 181:6–12. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A31986L0278. Accessed 16 Jan 2019
Fernández-Gómez C, Dimock B, Hintelmann H, Díez S (2011) Development of the DGT technique for Hg measurement in water: comparison of three different types of samplers in laboratory assays. Chemosphere 85:1452–1457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.07.080
Fernández-Gómez C, Bayona JM, Díez S (2012) Laboratory and field evaluation of diffusive gradient in thin films (DGT) for monitoring levels of dissolved mercury in natural river water. Int J Environ Anal Chem 92:1689–1698. https://doi.org/10.1080/03067319.2011.581369
Fernández-Gómez C, Bayona JM, Díez S (2014) Comparison of different types of diffusive gradient in thin film samplers for measurement of dissolved methylmercury in freshwaters. Talanta 129:486–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2014.06.025
Gu S, Kang X, Wang L, Lichtfouse E, Wang C. (2018) Clay mineral adsorbents for heavy metal removal from wastewater: a review. Environ Chem Lett. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-0813-9
Hasegawa H, Rahman MM, Rahman I (2016) The effects of soil properties to the extent of soil contamination with metals. In: Alamgir Md (ed) Environmental remediation technologies for metal-contaminated soils. Springer, Tokio, pp 1–19
Kabata-Pendias A (2011) Trace elements in soils and plants, 4th edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Kim J, Hyun S (2015) Nonequilibrium leaching behavior of metallic elements (Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb) from soils collected from long-term abandoned mine sites. Chemosphere 134:150–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.04.018
Kovaříková V, Dočekalová H, Dočekal B, Podborská M (2007) Use of the diffusive gradients in thin films technique (DGT) with various diffusive gels for characterization of sewage sludge-contaminated soils. Anal Bioanal Chem 389:2303–2311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-007-1628-x
Kurczewska J, Grzesiak P, Łukaszyk J, Gabała E, Schroeder G (2015) High decrease in soil metal bioavailability by metal immobilization with halloysite clay. Environ Chem Lett 13:319–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-015-0504-8
Li C, Ding S, Yang L, Wang Y, Ren M, Chen M, Fan X, Lichtfouse E (2018) Diffusive gradients in thin films: devices, materials and applications. Environ Chem Lett. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-018-00839-9
Liu J, Feng X, Qiu G et al (2012) Prediction of methyl mercury uptake by rice plants (Oryza sativa L.) using the diffusive gradient in thin films technique. Environ Sci Technol 46:11013–11020. https://doi.org/10.1021/es302187t
Muhammad I, Puschenreiter M, Wenzel WW (2012) Cadmium and Zn availability as affected by pH manipulation and its assessment by soil extraction, DGT and indicator plants. Sci Total Environ 416:490–500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.11.029
Rodrigues SM, Henriques B, Reis AT, Duarte AC, Pereira E, Römkens PFAM (2012) Hg transfer from contaminated soils to plants and animals. Environ Chem Lett 10:61–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-011-0329-z
Shiva AH, Teasdale PR, Bennett WW, Welsh DT (2015) A systematic determination of diffusion coefficients of trace elements in open and restricted diffusive layers used by the diffusive gradients in a thin film technique. Anal Chim Acta 888:146–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2015.07.027
Sochaczewski Ł, Tych W, Davison B, Zhang H (2007) 2D DGT induced fluxes in sediments and soils (2D DIFS). Environ Model Softw 22:14–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2005.09.008
Turull M, Komarova T, Noller B et al (2018) Evaluation of mercury in a freshwater environment impacted by an organomercury fungicide using diffusive gradient in thin films. Sci Total Environ. 621:1475–1484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.081
Wang S, Wu Z, Luo J (2018) Transfer mechanism, uptake kinetic process, and bioavailability of P, Cu, Cd, Pb, and Zn in macrophyte rhizosphere using diffusive gradients in thin films. Environ Sci Technol 52:1096–1108. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b01578
WHO (1991) Inorganic mercury. Environ Heal Criteria 168. http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc118.htm Accessed 16 Jan 2019
Yao Y, Sun Q, Wang C et al (2016) The combination of DGT technique and traditional chemical methods for evaluation of cadmium bioavailability in contaminated soils with organic amendment. Int J Environ Res Public Health 13:1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13060595
Yu H, Li J, Luan Y (2018) Meta-analysis of soil mercury accumulation by vegetables. Sci Rep 8:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19519-3
Zhang H, Lombi E, Smolders E, McGrath S (2004) Kinetics of Zn release in soils and prediction of Zn concentration in plants using diffusive gradients in thin films. Environ Sci Technol 38:3608–3613. https://doi.org/10.1021/es0352597
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MEIC) through projects AGL2017-89518-R and CTM2016-78798-C2-2-P (AEI/FEDER/UE).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Turull, M., Fontàs, C. & Díez, S. Diffusive gradient in thin films with open and restricted gels for predicting mercury uptake by plants. Environ Chem Lett 17, 1353–1358 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-019-00864-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-019-00864-2