Effects of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins on Soil Nutrition, Soil CO2 Emission, and Mung Bean Seedling Growth

Abstract

Dioxins are a group of persistent organic pollutants with varying degrees of toxicity. To determine the effects of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins pollution on soil nutrition, soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, and plant growth, soils and mung bean seedlings were experimentally subjected to 1,2,3,7,8-pentachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (PeCDD). The results showed that: (i) Low dose of PeCDD treatments led to a significant decrease in the soil organic matter content and an increase in the hydrolyzable nitrogen content, while the contents of available phosphorus and exchangeable potassium decreased significantly at high doses of PeCDD (≥20 ng kg−1). (ii) The soil CO2 release rate was gradually increased from treatments with 10 to 20 ng kg−1 PeCDD, but decreased significantly with 30 ng kg−1 PeCDD treatment after 25 days exposure. With prolonged exposure time, the soil CO2 emission after all treatments declined heavily, along with the difference among different treatments. (iii) Low dose of 10 ng kg−1 PeCDD resulted in significant reductions of malondialdehyde (MDA) content and electrolyte leakage conductivity and increases in the contents of chlorophyll and soluble protein and fresh biomass of mung bean seedlings. On the contrary, high doses of PeCDD (≥20 ng kg−1) treatments showed opposite effects on the above parameters of seedling growth. The results suggested that high doses of PeCDD contamination (≥20 ng kg−1) posed potential negative effects on the cycling processes of soil nutrients, which were probably due to the inhibitory on soil microbial activity, and induced phytotoxicity on seedling growth, although slight stimulations of soil microbial activity and mung bean seedling growth were found at low doses of PeCDD. Therefore, more efforts are needed to ensure the dioxin contamination below the toxic concentration of 20 ng TEQ kg−1 in farmland soil.