Accumulation of livestock manure–derived heavy metals in the Hexi Corridor oasis agricultural alkaline soil and bioavailability to Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis L.) after 4-year continuous application

Abstract

Hexi Corridor is one of the most important base of vegetable producing areas in China. Livestock manure (LM) applied to agricultural field could lead to soil heavy metal (HM) pollution. Previous studies have focused on HM pollution following LM application in acidic polluted soils; however, fewer studies have been conducted in alkaline unpolluted soils. A 4–year field vegetable production experiment was conducted using pig manure (PM) and chicken manure (CM) at five application rates (0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 t ha−1) to elucidate potential risks of HMs in an alkaline unpolluted soil in the Hexi Corridor oasis agricultural area and HM uptake by Chinese cabbage. The results showed that LM application caused a significant build–up of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Ni content in topsoil by 30.6–99.7%, 11.4–51.7%, 1.4–31.3%, 5.6–44.9%, 14%–40.8%, respectively. The Cd, Cu, Zn could potentially exceed the soil threshold in next 8–65 years after 15–60 t ha−1 LM application. Under LM treatment, the soil DTPA–extractable Cu, Zn, Fe, the acid–extractable fraction of Cu, Zn, Fe, Cd, Ni, and the Oxidable fraction of Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cd, Ni significantly increased, but the DTPA–extractable Pb, Cd, the acid–extractable fraction of Pb, and the reducible fraction of Cd significantly decreased. Cu and Zn could migrate to the deeper soil and relatively increase in DTPA–extracted Cu, Zn were found in 20–40 cm soil depth after LM application. The pH and SOM could influence the bioavailability of HMs in soil. The bioaccumulation factor and transfer factor (TF) values were <1 except Mn (TF > 1). HMs in leaf did not approach the threshold for HM toxicity due to the “dilution effect”. Recommend the type of manure was the PM and the annual PM application rate was 30 t ha−1 to ensure a 20–year period of clean production in alkaline unpolluted Fluvo–aqiuc vegetable soils.