Effect of contamination sources on the rate of zinc, copper and nickel release from various soil ecosystems

Hesham Mansour,Fikry Awad,Alaa Zaghloul,Mohamed Saber

doi:10.1186/s42269-020-00431-8

Hesham Mansour, Fikry Awad + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-020-00431-8

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Abstract

Background and objectiveSoil is a substantive component in biosphere habitually endangered to superfluity contaminants particularly potential toxic elements (PTEs). The source of soil contaminants is very critical in controlling both their release and expected hazards in the different soil ecosystems. This study aims to investigate the effect of low-quality irrigation water (LQW) on the extent of soil pollution through desorption of zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) from different polluted soils, collected from LQW irrigated farms for more than 40–80 years at Giza and Kafr-Elsheikh Governorates, Egypt.ResultsModels incorporated modified Freundlich (MFE), Elovich, first order and parabolic diffusion (PDE) showed significant results in describing the kinetic data under Egyptian conditions. Results entailed that according to the coefficient of determination (R2) and standard error, all used models well described the desorption of Cu, Ni and Zn, the most prevalent contaminants in the trailed soil ecosystems; for example, the R2 values were higher than 0.96** for zinc desorption using MFE model. As far as the PTEs levels are considered, the highest contaminant desorption rates were recorded at Kafr-Elsheikh site, followed by Kombora, and the lowest ones were in Abo Rawash soil ecosystem. The succession of more than one model to describe the kinetic perspective confirmed that the different mechanisms take place in PTEs sorption, distribution and subsequently release from different soil ecosystems.ConclusionsThe numerical values indicated that the soil ecosystems contaminated with industrial effluents were higher than those irrigated with sewage effluents regardless of the type of land use. More attention should be paid to low-quality water application in agriculture irrigation and its environmental risks.

Highlights

Background and objectiveSoil is a substantive component in biosphere habitually endangered to superfluity contaminants potential toxic elements (PTEs)
Kinetics of some potential toxic elements (PTEs) desorption from the studied samples as affected by irrigation with low‐quality water (LQW) for extended periods Zinc A kinetic study was carried out to dominate PTEs desorption and explore the highest affected soil ecosystem irrigated with low-quality water
According to standard error (SE) values, the decreasing order arranged as modified Freundlich (MFE) (0.17– 0.31), Elovich (2.46–4.23) and Parabolic diffusion equation (PDE) model (0.30–8.91), pointed to the priority of MFE to describe the kinetic results compared to other models

Summary

Introduction

Background and objectiveSoil is a substantive component in biosphere habitually endangered to superfluity contaminants potential toxic elements (PTEs). The source of soil contaminants is very critical in controlling both their release and expected hazards in the different soil ecosystems. Behavior and reactions of the varied soil components with potential toxic elements (PTEs) and their distribution coefficients (Kds) are key issues in assessing the mobility and retention of these contaminants (Shaheen et al 2013). The Kd parameter can be affected by sorbate properties such as ionic radius, polarity, aqueous radius, equivalent conductivity, hydration, enthalpy and entropy. Some chemical properties such as pH, especially in the arid region and amorphous hydroxides, have a significant impact on the formation of complexed compounds, reaction speed and stability (Shaheen et al 2013). Sorption reactions at solid–water interfaces decrease solute mobility and often control the fate of their bioavailability

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