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Bioavailability and transfer of elevated Sm concentration to alfalfa in spiked soils

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Abstract

Rare earth elements (REEs) have been widely used in recent decades, and their exploitation has led to industrial REE emission and to contaminated soils especially in former mining areas. This raised people concerns on the accumulation and toxicity of REEs in soils and plants, and consequences on plant health. Although many studies dealt with REE in soils and plants, there is still a need to precise their toxicity, bioavailability and transfer to plants in contaminated sites in order to restore such ecosystems. We studied the bioavailability and transfer of a REE to Medicago sativa grown on two contaminated soils differing in their chemical characteristics. A pot experiment was set up in a growth chamber where two natural soils were spiked or not with samarium (Sm) as a model REE. Two chemical extractants were tested to estimate the bioavailability of Sm in the soil, its decrease with time and its transfer to the plants. Results showed that DTPA extractable Sm was well correlated with Sm uptake in alfalfa shoots. The experiment pointed out a significant ageing effect since DTPA extractable Sm significantly decreased within 2 weeks in the soils and was significantly lower in the less acidic soil than in the other. The uptake of Sm from soil to alfalfa shoots depended on the soil pH and on the spiking concentration. The soil to plant transfer factor was low (< 0.08), but a 30% reduction of alfalfa biomass was observed when the soils were spiked with 100 to 200 mg kg−1 of Sm.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to give thanks to the technical staff of LIEC especially David BILLET, Christine FRIRY and Hervé MARMIER and to the Experimental phytotronic platform of Lorraine (PEPLor, Université de Lorraine).

Funding

This work was supported by the French National Research Agency through the national programme Investissements d’avenir with the reference ANR-10-LABX-21-RESSOURCES21.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Lorraine, CNRS, LIEC, F-54000, Nancy, France

    Ruoyu Hu, Thierry Beguiristain, Alexis De Junet & Corinne Leyval

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  1. Ruoyu Hu
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  2. Thierry Beguiristain
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  3. Alexis De Junet
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Correspondence to Corinne Leyval.

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Hu, R., Beguiristain, T., De Junet, A. et al. Bioavailability and transfer of elevated Sm concentration to alfalfa in spiked soils. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 44333–44341 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09223-z

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